UAE Tourism Statistics Updated November 2026

Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated

168 UAE Tourism Statistics for 2026

Hotels across the United Arab Emirates had a record 32.34 million guests in 2025, who stayed 110.62 million nights and paid AED 49.21 billion. The Ministry of Economy and Tourism puts travel and tourism's contribution to the economy at about AED 251.3 billion.

2026 broke every series. From late February, regional conflict and airspace closures cut flights and hotel stays across the country. No UAE-wide tourism figures for any part of 2026 had been published by early November. The emirate, airport and airline figures that do exist show a deep fall in March and a partial recovery since.

This page gathers the official figures in one place: national hotel totals first, then each emirate, labelled as such, plus where visitors come from, the seasons and weather, airports and airlines, attractions, events and getting around. Every number links to the body that published it, with the date. Emirate figures are never added together, because each emirate counts tourism in its own way. Dubai has its own page.

Headline figures

How many tourists visit the UAE each year?

More each year since the pandemic. The UAE publishes no national count of tourist arrivals; its headline measure is guests in hotel establishments across all seven emirates. That count has set a new high every year since 2023.

97.3m 2023 104.45m 2024 110.62m 2025
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Nights spent in UAE hotel establishments, 2023 to 2025, in millions. Each year comes from the release for that year; the link is to the latest one.
PeriodValue
202397.3m
2024104.45m
2025110.62m
Nights spent in UAE hotel establishments, 2023 to 2025, in millions. Each year comes from the release for that year; the link is to the latest one. (Ministry of Economy and Tourism (hotel results 2025), Apr 2026)

Hotel guests are counted at each hotel stay and include UAE residents, so a visitor who stays in two emirates is counted twice. They are not border arrivals or unique visitors. The ministry does not say whether its method stayed the same from 2023 to 2025. The global and regional shares are the ministry's own wording, which does not say whether they refer to arrivals or spending.

How full are UAE hotels and how much do they earn?

Hotels have earned more every year since 2022, and occupancy has climbed each year since the pandemic low of 2020.

38.0bn 2022 43.5bn 2023 about 45bn 2024 49.21bn 2025
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Revenue of UAE hotel establishments, 2022 to 2025, in AED billions. 2022 is from the ministry's tourism indicators page and later years from its annual releases; each year comes from the release for that year, and the link is to the latest one. 2024 is rounded in the source.
PeriodValue
202238.0bn
202343.5bn
2024about 45bn
202549.21bn
Revenue of UAE hotel establishments, 2022 to 2025, in AED billions. 2022 is from the ministry's tourism indicators page and later years from its annual releases; each year comes from the release for that year, and the link is to the latest one. 2024 is rounded in the source. (Ministry of Economy and Tourism (hotel results 2025), Apr 2026)

Revenue is that of hotel establishments only, not total visitor spending. Occupancy is the ministry's national rate; emirate and private-sector rates use other samples and are not compared with it.

When is the UAE busiest?

The cooler months from October to April. Hotels are fullest from mid-December to January and in the first half of the year. Summer is quieter for international visitors, but residents' short breaks keep hotels busier than the heat suggests.

84.0% Jan 2025 85.8% Feb 2025 69.0% Mar 2025 87.2% Apr 2025 80.2% May 2025 72.7% Jun 2025 76.6% Jul 2025 80.3% Aug 2025 79.8% Sep 2025 86.6% Oct 2025 89.5% Nov 2025 84.6% Dec 2025 84.6% Jan 2026 86.4% Feb 2026 54.3% Mar 2026
View data table
Hotel occupancy in the emirate of Abu Dhabi by month, January 2025 to March 2026, in per cent. The last three bars are 2026. Ramadan fell in March 2025 and from mid-February to mid-March 2026. Preliminary figures; the UAE ministry publishes no monthly national rate.
PeriodValueNote
Jan84.0%2025
Feb85.8%2025
Mar69.0%2025
Apr87.2%2025
May80.2%2025
Jun72.7%2025
Jul76.6%2025
Aug80.3%2025
Sep79.8%2025
Oct86.6%2025
Nov89.5%2025
Dec84.6%2025
Jan84.6%2026
Feb86.4%2026
Mar54.3%2026
Hotel occupancy in the emirate of Abu Dhabi by month, January 2025 to March 2026, in per cent. The last three bars are 2026. Ramadan fell in March 2025 and from mid-February to mid-March 2026. Preliminary figures; the UAE ministry publishes no monthly national rate. (SCAD (hotel establishments statistics), Apr 2026)

National figures are cumulative period totals from separate ministry releases, so they are not added or subtracted to make single months. The winter campaign's AED 12.5 billion covers all hotel revenue over six weeks and is measured on a different basis from earlier editions of the campaign, so editions are not compared. Abu Dhabi's monthly rates cover hotels and hotel apartments in the whole emirate.

What happened to UAE tourism in 2026?

It fell sharply from March. Abu Dhabi's hotels were fuller in January and February 2026 than a year earlier, until regional conflict and airspace closures from late February cut flights and bookings. No UAE-wide hotel or visitor figure for any part of 2026 has been published; the ministry's latest national totals are for 2025. The figures below are emirate, airport and airline figures, each labelled.

542k Jan 2025 462k Feb 2025 417k Mar 2025 536k Jan 2026 465k Feb 2026 273k Mar 2026
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Guests in Abu Dhabi hotel establishments in January to March, 2025 and 2026, in thousands, from SCAD's monthly releases. Preliminary figures.
PeriodValueNote
Jan542k2025
Feb462k2025
Mar417k2025
Jan536k2026
Feb465k2026
Mar273k2026
Guests in Abu Dhabi hotel establishments in January to March, 2025 and 2026, in thousands, from SCAD's monthly releases. Preliminary figures. (SCAD (hotel establishments statistics), Apr 2026)
  • Abu Dhabi hotels were 84.6% full in January 2026 and 86.4% in February, before the disruption. (SCAD (hotel establishments statistics), Apr 2026)
  • Abu Dhabi hotels had 273,493 guests in March 2026, against 416,801 in March 2025, and 925,525 guest nights. (SCAD (hotel establishments statistics), Apr 2026)
  • European guests at Abu Dhabi hotels fell from 123,090 in March 2025 to 57,170 in March 2026, guests from non-Arab Asia from 152,008 to 93,889 and GCC guests from 11,348 to 5,236. (SCAD (hotel establishments statistics), Apr 2026)
  • Dubai received 6.97 million international overnight visitors in January to August 2026, in a year DET says was hit by the regional situation that impacted global travel. (Dubai DET (via WAM), Sep 2026)
  • Dubai International (DXB) handled 31.5 million passengers in the first half of 2026, down 31.3%, under what Dubai Airports called regional airspace constraints. (Dubai Airports, Aug 2026)
  • In September 2026 Dubai Airports forecast around 70 million DXB passengers for 2026, and 100 million a year by the end of 2027. (Dubai Airports (via WAM), Sep 2026)
  • DXB handled 6.3 million passengers in July 2026, and by September airline capacity was back to 84% and passenger numbers to 78% of previous levels. (Dubai Airports (via WAM), Sep 2026)
  • Abu Dhabi Airports handled 8.61 million passengers in July to September 2026, 1.4% more than a year earlier, beating its target; Zayed International handled 8.45 million. (Abu Dhabi Airports, Nov 2026)
  • Over the 12 months to September 2026, Abu Dhabi Airports handled 30.2 million passengers. (Abu Dhabi Airports, Nov 2026)
  • Emirates' seat factor fell to 72.0% in April to September 2026, and Emirates Group profit before tax fell 66% to AED 4.1 billion. (Emirates Group, Nov 2026)
  • Ras Al Khaimah received more than 670,000 visitors in the first half of 2026, its strongest first half on record, as domestic arrivals rose 47%. RAKTDA said regional conflict was disrupting international travel. (RAKTDA (H1 2026 results), Jul 2026)
  • May 2026 was Ras Al Khaimah's busiest month on record, and its RAK Moments campaign for UAE residents brought 224,000 room nights and AED 104.4 million of room revenue in the second quarter. (RAKTDA (H1 2026 results), Jul 2026)
  • In August 2026 WTTC forecast Middle East travel and tourism GDP to fall 14.5% in 2026, from $386 billion to $330 billion, the only region expected to shrink. (WTTC (Economic Impact Research), Aug 2026)

There are no UAE-wide figures for 2026: the ministry's latest national release covers 2025, and in April 2026 its tourism council referred to current developments in the region and their impact on travel and tourism flows. SCAD's monthly hotel tables had reached only March 2026 by early November. Ramadan fell in March in both years, so part of the March gap is seasonal. The DXB and Ras Al Khaimah figures are operators' and authorities' own counts; the DXB forecast is Dubai Airports' own, made in September 2026, and replaced its February forecast. Trade-press 2026 figures that could not be traced to an official release are left out, and we calculate no changes.

How do the seven emirates compare?

They cannot be ranked on one measure. Abu Dhabi counts all visitors on a broad basis, Dubai counts international overnight visitors, Sharjah hotel guests and Ras Al Khaimah overnight visitors including UAE residents. A visitor who tours several emirates is counted by each. Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain published no 2025 annual figures that we could find.

Each emirate's figures come from its own tourism authority and measure different things, so they are not added together or charted against each other, and no "rest of the UAE" figure is derived from the national total. Sharjah's 2025 statistics report gives its figures only as graphics, so this page uses SCTDA's 2024 release; consultancy figures for Sharjah are left out. Ras Al Khaimah publishes revenue growth but not a revenue total.

Where do the UAE's visitors come from?

India sends the most hotel guests to Abu Dhabi and Russia the most to Sharjah. The UAE publishes no national breakdown of visitors by country, so these figures are by emirate and are not added together.

  1. 1 India 436k
  2. 2 Russia 257k
  3. 3 United Kingdom 251k
  4. 4 China 248k
  5. 5 Saudi Arabia 201k
Hotel guests in the emirate of Abu Dhabi by nationality, 2025, the five largest markets named by DCT Abu Dhabi, in thousands. Guests from the UAE are not in this list. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)

Abu Dhabi and Sharjah figures are hotel guests by nationality; Dubai's are international overnight visitors by region; Ras Al Khaimah gives growth rates only. Sharjah figures are for 2024. SCAD's world regions are its own: non-Arab Asia excludes Arab countries in Asia. Airport passenger markets are a different measure and are in the airports section.

How are Abu Dhabi's hotels doing?

They were fuller and dearer in 2025 than in 2024. Room rates swing widely through the year: December is the most expensive month and July the cheapest.

621 Jan 704 Feb 486 Mar 614 Apr 490 May 408 Jun 387 Jul 394 Aug 406 Sep 649 Oct 844 Nov 979 Dec
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Average room rate in Abu Dhabi hotel establishments by month, 2025, in AED. Preliminary figures from SCAD's monthly releases.
PeriodValue
Jan621
Feb704
Mar486
Apr614
May490
Jun408
Jul387
Aug394
Sep406
Oct649
Nov844
Dec979
Average room rate in Abu Dhabi hotel establishments by month, 2025, in AED. Preliminary figures from SCAD's monthly releases. (SCAD (hotel establishments statistics), Apr 2026)

DCT Abu Dhabi's annual figures and SCAD's monthly tables both cover hotels and hotel apartments in the whole emirate (Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra regions), but monthly figures are preliminary and are not added up to annual totals. DCT gives growth rates, not AED levels, for the annual room rate. DCT's "occupancy gaining 9 per cent" for Al Ain is not clear on points or per cent and is left out. Yas and Saadiyat rates are Miral's own, for its islands only.

How long do visitors stay, and why do they come?

A UAE hotel guest stays between three and four nights. No national survey of why people visit has been published. The nearest official measures are counts of business-event delegates, airline stopover visitors and passengers starting or ending their journey in the UAE, each described below.

  1. 1 Russia 4.3
  2. 2 United Kingdom 4.2
  3. 3 Germany 4.1
  4. 4 Italy 3.4
Average length of stay in Abu Dhabi by market, 2025, nights: the four main markets with the longest stays, as named by DCT Abu Dhabi. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)

Average stay is guest nights divided by guests in hotel establishments, as each producer publishes it; Abu Dhabi's 2.9-night annual figure covers all accommodation, not hotels only. A guest who moves hotel is counted twice, so trips are longer than stays. The purpose figures are proxies: business-event delegates count attendances, including residents; stopover visitors are Etihad's programme only; point-to-point passengers include residents travelling abroad. None of them is a share of visitors by purpose.

How much do UAE residents travel within the country?

Enough to keep hotels busy in summer. Guests from the UAE at Abu Dhabi hotels peak in July and August, when international visitors are fewest, and in 2026 residents' short breaks gave Ras Al Khaimah its best first half on record.

57.8k Mar 109.8k Jul 98.7k Aug 49.3k Nov
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Guests from the UAE at Abu Dhabi hotel establishments in four months of 2025, in thousands. Preliminary figures from SCAD's monthly releases.
PeriodValue
Mar57.8k
Jul109.8k
Aug98.7k
Nov49.3k
Guests from the UAE at Abu Dhabi hotel establishments in four months of 2025, in thousands. Preliminary figures from SCAD's monthly releases. (SCAD (hotel establishments statistics), Sep 2025)

SCAD's "UAE" row counts hotel guests from the UAE market; its metadata does not say whether this covers residents of all nationalities or UAE nationals only. No national count of domestic trips is published, and WTTC's domestic spending estimates are from earlier editions, so they are left out. Ras Al Khaimah counts domestic visitors as overnight visitors resident in the UAE.

What is tourism worth to the UAE economy?

Far more than hotel revenue alone. Total-contribution measures such as WTTC's count spending passed on to suppliers and workers as well as visitors' direct spending, so they run to several times hotels' takings. The national strategy aims to raise the sector's contribution much further by 2031.

28m 2023 30.75m 2024 32.34m 2025 40m 2031 target
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Guests in UAE hotel establishments, 2023 to 2025, against the 2031 target of the UAE Tourism Strategy, in millions. Actual years are from the ministry's annual releases linked on this page.
PeriodValue
202328m
202430.75m
202532.34m
2031 target40m
Guests in UAE hotel establishments, 2023 to 2025, against the 2031 target of the UAE Tourism Strategy, in millions. Actual years are from the ministry's annual releases linked on this page. (Ministry of Economy and Tourism (Tourism Strategy 2031), Nov 2026)

The ministry does not state the method behind its AED 251.3 billion and AED 209 billion figures. WTTC figures are modelled estimates of travel and tourism's total contribution, not official statistics; WTTC revises its whole series each year, so only its latest edition (August 2026) is used here and earlier editions' values are left out. The aviation study was commissioned by the industry and covers Dubai only. Airline results cover whole networks, including passengers who only change planes in the UAE; Air Arabia's include its hubs in Morocco, Egypt and Pakistan.

How do visitors get to the UAE?

The main gateways are five airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. Airport counts include people changing planes and residents, so they are far larger than visitor numbers, and operators' totals are not added together here.

15.36m 2023 17.1m 2024 19.48m 2025
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Passengers at Sharjah International Airport, 2023 to 2025, in millions.
PeriodValue
202315.36m
202417.1m
202519.48m
Passengers at Sharjah International Airport, 2023 to 2025, in millions. (Sharjah Airport Authority, Jan 2026)
  • UAE airports handled 147.8 million passengers in 2024. In February 2026 the ministry projected about 159 million for 2025, growth of over 7.5%. (Ministry of Economy and Tourism (winter campaign release), Feb 2026)
  • In the first half of 2024 UAE airports handled more than 71.75 million passengers, up from 62.79 million: 20,274,694 arrivals, 21,090,750 departures and 30,391,978 transit passengers. (UAE Ministry of Economy (H1 2024 results), Sep 2024)
  • Dubai Airports says DXB's 2025 total of 95.2 million was the highest annual international passenger traffic ever recorded by any airport. (Dubai Airports, Feb 2026)
  • DXB's annual load factor was 77.6% in 2025. (Dubai Airports (fact file), 2026)
  • Al Maktoum International (DWC) handled 915,000 passengers in January to September 2025, up 35.9%. The CIS was its largest market, with 497,000. (Dubai Airports (fact file), 2026)
  • DWC's first phase is planned to handle 150 million passengers a year, beyond DXB's maximum of around 115 million. (Dubai Airports (via WAM), Sep 2026)
  • Zayed International (AUH) handled about 98% of Abu Dhabi Airports' passengers in 2025, and 8.59 million in the fourth quarter, up 13.8%. (Abu Dhabi Airports (via WAM), Jan 2026)
  • Abu Dhabi Airports added 39 routes and 7 airlines in 2025, and its cargo grew 12% to nearly 770,000 tonnes. (Abu Dhabi Airports (via WAM), Jan 2026)
  • Zayed International served 124 destinations in the third quarter of 2026, and India supplied more than 671,000 of its passengers in September 2026. (Abu Dhabi Airports, Nov 2026)
  • Sharjah Airport recorded 116,657 aircraft movements in 2025, up 8.3%, and 204,323 tonnes of cargo, with flights to more than 100 destinations. (Sharjah Airport Authority, Jan 2026)
  • Sharjah Airport handled 9,110,397 passengers in the first half of 2025, up 10%, and plans capacity for 25 million a year by the end of 2027. (Sharjah Airport Authority, Jul 2025)
  • Ras Al Khaimah International passed one million passengers for the first time in 2025, with 1,000,303, and serves 16 international destinations. (RAK International Airport (via WAM), Jan 2026)

Airport passengers count arrivals, departures and transfers, so they are not visitors. Arrivals at UAE airports also include residents coming home. The 2025 national figure was a projection made before the year's final data; operators' own 2025 totals are given instead, and we do not add them up. DWC's full-year 2025 total was not found, so the January to September figure is used.

How many passengers do UAE airlines carry?

Tens of millions a year each for the four home airlines: Emirates and flydubai in Dubai, Etihad in Abu Dhabi and Air Arabia in Sharjah. Their counts cover whole networks, including passengers who never leave the airport, so they are not visitor numbers and are not added together.

  • Emirates had a fleet of 277 aircraft at the end of its 2025-26 financial year, which ran from April 2025 to March 2026. (Emirates Group, May 2026)
  • Etihad carried 22.4 million passengers in 2025, as its capacity grew 21% to 111.5 billion available seat kilometres. (Etihad Airways (via WAM), Feb 2026)
  • Etihad's network grew from 94 to 110 destinations in 2025, with a fleet of 127 aircraft. (Etihad Airways (via WAM), Feb 2026)
  • Etihad estimates it accounted for about half of UAE passenger growth in 2025, based on projected airline traffic. (Etihad Airways (via WAM), Feb 2026)
  • In the first half of 2025 Etihad carried 10.2 million passengers, up 17%, at a load factor of 87%. In the whole of 2022 it carried 10 million. (Etihad Airways (via Abu Dhabi Media Office), Sep 2025)
  • flydubai carried a record 15.7 million passengers in 2025, on 126,604 flights to 140 destinations. (flydubai, Feb 2026)
  • Air Arabia carried 21.8 million passengers in 2025, up 16%, across its hubs in the UAE, Morocco, Egypt and Pakistan, and added 30 routes. (Air Arabia (via Sharjah24), Feb 2026)

Emirates reports by financial year (April to March); Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia by calendar year. Airline passengers are not added to airport passengers, which count each trip at both ends. Emirates' own passenger totals are on the Dubai page.

What are the UAE's most visited attractions?

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi has the largest published count of any single site, and most of its visitors come from abroad. Operators count visits, which include residents and repeat trips, so these are not counts of tourists.

  1. 1 Visitors 4.33m
  2. 2 Worshippers 1.53m
  3. 3 Iftar guests 0.90m
Guests at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi by type, 2025. The groups do not add up to the total of 6,846,723, which also counts other users of the site. (Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Jan 2026)
  • Of the mosque's 2025 guests, 4,331,046 were visitors, 1,531,192 worshippers and 898,767 iftar guests. (Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Jan 2026)
  • 82% of the mosque's visitors came from outside the UAE and 18% were UAE residents. By continent, Asia supplied 49%, Europe 33% and North America 11%. (Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Jan 2026)
  • India was the top nationality at the mosque in 2025, at 20% of guests, ahead of China at 9% and Russia and the United States at 8% each. (Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Jan 2026)
  • During Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr 2025 the mosque received 1,890,144 guests, including 391,011 visitors. (Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Jan 2026)
  • The Sheikh Khalifa Grand Mosque in Al Ain received 1,032,320 guests in 2025, up 95%, and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Fujairah 660,110, up 10%. (Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Jan 2026)
  • The Light & Peace Museum at the Abu Dhabi mosque had 47,266 visitors in 2025, and 55,730 people joined its 4,031 cultural tours. (Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Jan 2026)
  • Louvre Abu Dhabi recorded 1.4 million visitors in 2025. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)
  • Qasr Al Hosn in Abu Dhabi welcomed more than 843,000 visitors in 2025, up 22%. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)
  • Abu Dhabi's cultural sites and libraries drew more than 8.6 million visitors in 2025. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)
  • Visits to Yas Island's theme parks and CLYMB rose 20% in 2024, and international visits to the theme parks 40%. (Miral, Apr 2025)
  • In summer 2025 Yas Island visits rose 15% and Yas Theme Parks visits 9%, with international visits up 50%. (Miral, Oct 2025)
  • Yas Island hotels averaged 85% occupancy over summer 2025, with peaks above 90%, and Saadiyat Island hotels 66%. (Miral, Oct 2025)
  • Dubai's Museum of the Future was approaching 5 million visitors in total by February 2026, a cumulative count since it opened on 22 February 2022. (Museum of the Future (via Media Office), Feb 2026)
  • In its first four years the museum hosted 620 events, conferences and talks and 224 educational programmes. (Museum of the Future (via Media Office), Feb 2026)

Each figure is the operator's own count of visits or guests, which includes residents and repeat visits. Yas Island's total counts visits to the whole island, including malls, parks and events; Miral publishes growth rates, not attendance, for individual parks, and third-party park estimates are left out. The latest full-year Yas figure found is for 2024. The Museum of the Future figure is cumulative over four years, not annual. Mosque guests include worshippers.

How big are the UAE's events?

Abu Dhabi's culture, sport and business events drew millions of attendances in 2025, with trade shows, festivals and concerts each in the hundreds of thousands. Event figures count attendances, not unique people, and include residents.

  1. 1 MOTN Festival 253k
  2. 2 IDEX/NAVDEX about 206k
  3. 3 Coldplay (four concerts) 193k
  4. 4 Liwa Village over 159k
  5. 5 Make it in the Emirates about 122k
  6. 6 Abu Dhabi T10 about 100k
  7. 7 Sustainability Week about 50k
Attendance at selected Abu Dhabi events in 2025, in thousands, as published by DCT Abu Dhabi. Some figures are rounded in the source. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)
  • DCT Abu Dhabi held a record 252 culture and leisure events in 2025, with more than 4.2 million attendees, up 20%. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)
  • The MOTN Festival, held across Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra, had 252,988 visitors. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)
  • Coldplay's four sold-out concerts at Zayed Sports City drew 193,470 people, Abu Dhabi T10 cricket about 100,000 and Liwa Village more than 159,000. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)
  • Al Hosn Festival, the Traditional Handicrafts Festival and the Maritime Heritage Festival together had more than 608,000 visitors. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)
  • IDEX/NAVDEX drew around 206,000 attendees in 2025, Make it in the Emirates around 122,000 and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week about 50,000. (DCT Abu Dhabi (2025 results), Apr 2026)
  • The Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon drew more than 10,000 participants and spectators in 2025, its most ever. (RAKTDA (2025 results), Jan 2026)

Attendance counts entries, so one person at several days or events is counted more than once. Business-event delegates are in the length-of-stay section. Dubai's events are on the Dubai page.

How do visitors get around the UAE?

By road and, in Dubai, by Metro. Dubai publishes detailed ridership; Abu Dhabi's latest full-year figures are for 2024. Ridership counts residents and visitors together.

  1. 1 Dubai Metro 294.7m
  2. 2 Taxis 209m
  3. 3 Buses 197.2m
  4. 4 Shared mobility 72.9m
  5. 5 Marine transport 18.4m
  6. 6 Dubai Tram 9.9m
Riders on Dubai's public transport, shared mobility and taxis by mode, 2025, in millions. Residents and visitors together. (RTA Dubai (via Media Office), Feb 2026)
  • 802.1 million riders used Dubai's public transport, shared mobility and taxis in 2025, up 7.4% from 747.1 million, or 2.2 million a day. (RTA Dubai (via Media Office), Feb 2026)
  • Dubai Metro carried 294.7 million riders in 2025, up 7%, the largest share of all trips at 37%. (RTA Dubai (via Media Office), Feb 2026)
  • Dubai taxis carried 209 million riders in 2025, buses 197.2 million, shared mobility 72.9 million (up 30%), abras, water taxis and ferries 18.4 million and Dubai Tram 9.9 million. (RTA Dubai (via Media Office), Feb 2026)
  • BurJuman was Dubai's busiest Metro station in 2025, with 17.8 million riders; Mall of the Emirates had 11.2 million and Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall 10.9 million. (RTA Dubai (via Media Office), Feb 2026)
  • October 2025 was the busiest month on Dubai's network, with 72.8 million riders, ahead of November (72.6 million) and December (71.4 million). (RTA Dubai (via Media Office), Feb 2026)
  • Abu Dhabi's public buses recorded over 90 million rides in 2024, and more than 168,000 passengers used its water transport network. (Abu Dhabi DMT (via Media Office), Apr 2025)

RTA counts riders on each mode, so a trip that changes from Metro to bus is counted twice. Its total excludes 23.6 million limousine riders. The station figures are a sign of travel to tourist areas, not visits to the attractions themselves.

What is the weather like in the UAE, and when is it too hot?

Mild and sunny from November to March, and extremely hot from May to September. The figures below are single months' observations for the emirate of Abu Dhabi, published by SCAD from National Center of Meteorology data. They describe one year each, not long-term averages.

31.4 Nov 2025 26.8 Dec 2025 24.6 Jan 2026 30.6 Mar 2026 33.3 Apr 2026 40.6 May 2026 43.3 Jun 2026 43.8 Jul 2026 45.7 Aug 2026
View data table
Average daily maximum temperature in the emirate of Abu Dhabi by month, November 2025 to August 2026, in °C. Single observed months, not long-term averages; February 2026 was not published as a file.
PeriodValueNote
Nov31.42025
Dec26.82025
Jan24.62026
Mar30.62026
Apr33.32026
May40.62026
Jun43.32026
Jul43.82026
Aug45.72026
Average daily maximum temperature in the emirate of Abu Dhabi by month, November 2025 to August 2026, in °C. Single observed months, not long-term averages; February 2026 was not published as a file. (SCAD (climate statistics, NCM data), Oct 2026)

These are observations for particular months and years, averaged across the emirate of Abu Dhabi's weather stations, not 30-year climate normals, which could not be reached. "Coolest" and "hottest" refer only to the months shown. Other emirates are not covered by these tables. SCAD's "average rainfall" is its own station-average measure.

Glossary

MoET
The UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism (earlier the Ministry of Economy), which publishes the national hotel figures through the Emirates Tourism Council.
Hotel guests
People checking in to hotels and hotel apartments, counted at each stay and including UAE residents. The UAE's main national tourism volume measure.
DCT Abu Dhabi
The Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi, the emirate's tourism authority.
SCAD
Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi, which publishes monthly hotel and climate statistics for the emirate.
NCM
The National Center of Meteorology, the source of the climate observations SCAD publishes.
DET
Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, which counts Dubai's international overnight visitors.
RAKTDA
Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority.
SCTDA
Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority.
WTTC
World Travel and Tourism Council, an industry body that publishes modelled estimates of tourism's economic impact.
DXB, DWC, AUH
Dubai International, Al Maktoum International (Dubai World Central) and Zayed International in Abu Dhabi.
GCC
Gulf Cooperation Council: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
ADR
Average daily rate, the average price paid for a hotel room per night.
RevPAR
Revenue per available room, room revenue divided by all rooms available, sold or not.
Business events (MICE)
Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from official bodies: the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism for national hotel totals, each emirate's tourism authority and statistics centre for emirate figures, airport operators, airlines and attraction operators for their own counts, and WTTC for modelled economic estimates. Each figure links to the release that carries it, with the date. National figures come first and every emirate figure is labelled with its emirate; emirates are never added together because each counts tourism differently. Where two official copies give different 2025 hotel figures, the ministry's own release is used. Only WTTC's latest edition is used. Climate figures are single months' observations, not long-term averages. No UAE-wide figure for 2026 had been published at the time of review, and operator forecasts are named as such. Figures we would have had to calculate, and figures read only from images, are left out. Ministry and SCAD citations are labelled by release. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.