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United Arab Emirates (UAE)

See the latest market data for the UAE – including traveller visits and spend, length of stay, behaviours and preferences.

Intro

Travellers from the UAE made 4.3 million outbound visits in 2023, with a total international tourism expenditure of US$25.1 billion. 

In 2023, the UK welcomed 477,000 visits from United Arab Emirates. During the travellers’ visits, their total expenditure was a record £914.1 million, with an average spend of £1,918 per visit.

Discover visitor behaviour, travel trade insights, detailed visualisations for this market – and more. The statistics in this market report are collated from a range of sources such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as well as sponsored questions and our own research. For further details, see How we source this information.

Visitor characteristics

  • Most visitors from the UAE are aged between 25 and 54 (77% in 2023). 
  • 76% of all holiday visitors from the UAE (excluding British expats) are making a repeat visit to Britain (within 10 years).
  • In 2023, 37% of visitors from the UAE were British nationals, while 31% were Emiratis.
  • 81% of departing UAE visitors (excluding British expats) say they are ‘extremely likely’ to recommend Britain for a visit, on par with the all-market average of 82%.

Explore the data

Explore the inbound data in full

Use our visualisations to see data from this market in greater depth and clarity. Compare annual statistics, and filter by age group, gender, trip duration and more. Includes seasonality, trip purpose and regional spread of visitors to UK destinations. This data is based on the International Passenger Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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Perceptions of Britain in the UAE market

  • Key holiday ‘wants’ include ‘enjoying the beauty of the landscape’, ‘having fun and laughter’ and ‘good value for money’. Italy is seen as the ‘best place’ for the former two, and the USA for the latter.
  • Factors that are low on the market’s holiday priorities include ‘getting some sun’ and ‘watching a sporting event’.
  • Britain rates well for ‘visiting a place with lots of history’, but not as favourably as Italy.

Global context

Top-level statistics relating to the population, GDP, tourism expenditure and popular destinations for this market. For greater detail on inbound tourism flows from this market to the UK, see our data visualisations.

Measure2023
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)25.1
Global rank for international tourism expenditure14
Number of outbound visits (m)4.3
Most visited destinationSaudi Arabia
Most visited destination in Western EuropeUK

Key demographic and economic data

Measure2023
Population (m)9.5
GDP per capita PPP (US$)93,968
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)3.0
Annual GDP growth (%)3.6

Caring for visitors

  • English is widely spoken and understood.
  • Arab families like hotel suites or interconnecting rooms, or renting an apartment.
  • Hospitality is a key element of Emirati culture, so small gestures and being available to answer questions will be very much appreciated.

The leisure and travel trade

  • Many travel agents are, in effect, ticketing agents with limited product knowledge.
  • Key times of year for promotional visits to the region are February to late May and September to November.
  • The working week traditionally started on Sunday and ended on Thursday, but in early 2022 the UAE introduced a Western-style working week from Monday to Friday.

Access to Britain from the UAE

The key routes and transport modes that connect this market with the UK.

Measure2023
Weekly aircraft departures 183
Weekly seat capacity80,608
Airports with direct routes in the UAE2
Airports with direct routes in Britain7
  • The highest share of departing seats is available on the Dubai to London Heathrow route with 36% in 2023. 
  • In 2023, two airports in the United Arab Emirates served seven airports in the UK.
  • Following the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduled seat capacity on non-stop flights from the UAE to the UK has recovered to 93% of 2019 levels in 2023.
  • The current reduced rate of Air Passenger Duty for visitors departing Britain for the UAE is £88.
  • Emirati nationals can pay £15 for a visa waiver (Electronic Travel Authorisation) to enter the UK.

Further resources

UAE Market Snapshot.pdf

Download (562.64 KB)

Where visitors from the UAE to the UK reside in their own country.xlsx

Download (229.43 KB)

GCC Market and Trade Profile 2021

Download (73.2 MB)

UAE Aviation Profile.pdf

Download (241.38 KB)

UAE COVID-19 Travel Sentiment.pdf

Download (503.15 KB)

UK Expats living in the UAE & their visitation behaviour.pdf

Download (9.99 MB)

Reluctant Returners Expat persona infographic.pdf

Download (343.76 KB)

Valiant Visitors Expat persona infographic.pdf

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Perceived barriers to visitors from the UAE exploring Britain outside of London.pdf

Download (2.45 MB)

How we source this information

We work with a number of data sources to provide a rich and insightful picture of our key inbound source markets. This includes, but is not limited to, data provided by Oxford Economics, the UNWTO, Apex, Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index and from our own surveys and ad-hoc research. The largest share of the data comes from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) by the ONS. 

Visit our About the International Passenger Survey page for more information on how the data is collected and analysed.

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