emirates7 - With steady momentum toward the top, the UAE has not only positioned tourism as a powerful economic engine but has transformed it into a global benchmark for sustainability and innovation.
Anchored in its strategic vision to diversify the economy and attract investment, the UAE has led far-reaching technological transformations that have redefined the tourism landscape. Companies have competed to harness advanced technologies to deliver high-value tourism offerings, firmly establishing the UAE as a leading destination at the forefront of global competitiveness and leadership.
The UAE continues to consolidate its leadership in deploying advanced technologies and artificial intelligence across the tourism and hospitality sector, reinforcing its status as an innovative, digitally advanced global destination. It was among the first countries in the region to adopt digital solutions that enhanced operational efficiency across sectors, while consistently ranking at the top of regional and global digital competitiveness indices - driven by world-class infrastructure and extensive fiber-optic networks spanning most of the country.
The World’s Coolest Winter campaign, launched this year under the slogan “Our Winter Is Entrepreneurial,” highlights the critical role played by the UAE’s globally leading digital infrastructure in empowering sector companies, fostering a growth-enabling environment, and elevating service quality across the tourism ecosystem.
Tourism in the UAE is built on advanced digital infrastructure, with sector companies leveraging artificial intelligence and smart technologies to enhance the visitor journey - from booking and mobility to service delivery and personalisation. The country has further strengthened its position as a hub for startups and digital enterprises by combining a large and diverse customer base with advanced digital infrastructure that accelerates business scalability, while embedding global best practices in innovation and digital transformation.
The UAE has capitalised on this infrastructure to enhance visitor experiences through fast, seamless services such as smart visas and digitised facilities, more efficient visitor-flow management enabled by advanced transport systems, and real-time data access for travelers. Together, these capabilities have reinforced the UAE’s position as a global hub for innovative tourism, supported by sustained investments in technology and telecommunications.
The tourism sector is witnessing growing adoption of digital services, smart guest personalisation, advanced data analytics, intelligent check-in processes, and mobile-based service delivery. Smart platforms are also being used to promote tourism through official channels such as Visit Abu Dhabi, Visit Dubai, Visit Sharjah, Visit Ajman, and Visit Ras Al Khaimah, contributing to improved visitor experiences and stronger tourism performance.
The UAE has also made significant progress in integrating technology across the hospitality sector, where digital solutions increasingly shape service design, workforce operations, and every stage of the guest experience. Cloud platforms, AI-driven solutions, contactless check-in systems, and mobile services are collectively raising guest expectations around speed, convenience, and reliability.
The Ministry of Economy and Tourism, working in collaboration with federal and local tourism authorities, development departments, private-sector partners, and global tourism organisations, has developed an integrated national strategy for tourism development. This strategy reinforces the UAE’s position as a sustainable tourism destination by prioritising future foresight, innovation, and technology within the national tourism ecosystem - ensuring effective destination promotion, continued enhancement of the UAE tourism product, and increased tourism investment nationwide.
Digital transformation sits at the core of the National Tourism Strategy 2031, reflected in sustained investment in modern aviation networks, integrated multimodal transport systems, and infrastructure upgrades, alongside the adoption of digital travel solutions that facilitate seamless global mobility.
Advanced technologies are increasingly embedded across the tourism sector, delivering frictionless visitor experiences through fast, integrated digital government and tourism services, including visa issuance, tourism information platforms, smart transport solutions, and digitally enabled road and public transport networks such as metro systems and technology-equipped buses.
The hospitality sector has similarly embraced AI and advanced technologies across hotels and leisure destinations to deliver innovative, personalised guest experiences. Today, many hotels in the UAE rely on intelligent virtual systems to handle routine guest inquiries, with 39 percent of hospitality operators using chatbots or virtual assistants to provide round-the-clock support, deliver recommendations, and manage administrative tasks - enabling staff to focus on higher-value, more complex interactions.
Within the framework of smart tourism infrastructure, Abu Dhabi is working toward becoming the world’s first government fully powered by artificial intelligence by 2027. The emirate aims to automate 100 percent of government operations, supported by AED13 billion in digital infrastructure investment under the Abu Dhabi Digital Government Strategy 2025 - 2027. This ambition is reinforced by major projects such as Zayed International Airport, which launched the Smart Travel initiative using biometric technologies, enhancing passenger experience by reducing airport processing times by up to 70 percent.
Dubai has also built a robust foundation through advanced digital infrastructure, 5G networks, and paperless government services. These initiatives support secure data exchange, provide real-time insights for the tourism sector, and advance sustainable smart-city practices. Digital hotel check-in has been adopted as a primary channel across Dubai’s hotels and holiday homes, enabling a fast, secure, and intelligent arrival experience for local and international guests.
These initiatives have improved operational efficiency, reduced waiting times, and created a more agile hospitality ecosystem aligned with the expectations of modern travelers. New technologies allow visitors to complete check-in procedures before arrival via smartphones by verifying identity data and registering biometric information once, without repeating the process on future visits. Upon arrival, guests follow a fully digital pathway that eliminates reception desk queues, with verified data securely reused until identification expiry.
For repeat visits, quick biometric authentication - such as facial recognition - confirms access within seconds. This significantly enhances visitor comfort, particularly for repeat travelers within 12 months of their previous visit, who account for nearly a quarter of Dubai’s annual visitors. It also improves hotel operational efficiency and aligns seamlessly with Dubai’s advanced digital ecosystem, including smart corridors at Dubai International Airport that have reduced passport-control processing to seconds. The technology is designed for seamless integration with existing hotel applications and digital platforms and can extend to other guest touchpoints such as car rentals, enabling a fully integrated and personalised tourism experience across the emirate.
To support startups in the tourism sector, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism signed a memorandum of understanding with Mastercard, a global leader in payment technology solutions, to establish a first-of-its-kind city-level digital partnership. The agreement supports the development and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises by providing access to digital tools, resources, mentorship, and guidance to strengthen innovation, competitiveness, and long-term sustainability.
The partnership also accelerates tourism ecosystem growth by leveraging digital technologies to advance Dubai’s tourism sector, while innovative payment solutions and enhanced visitor experiences support the emirate’s ambition to rank among the world’s top three cities for leisure, business, and specialised services.
Anchored in its strategic vision to diversify the economy and attract investment, the UAE has led far-reaching technological transformations that have redefined the tourism landscape. Companies have competed to harness advanced technologies to deliver high-value tourism offerings, firmly establishing the UAE as a leading destination at the forefront of global competitiveness and leadership.
The UAE continues to consolidate its leadership in deploying advanced technologies and artificial intelligence across the tourism and hospitality sector, reinforcing its status as an innovative, digitally advanced global destination. It was among the first countries in the region to adopt digital solutions that enhanced operational efficiency across sectors, while consistently ranking at the top of regional and global digital competitiveness indices - driven by world-class infrastructure and extensive fiber-optic networks spanning most of the country.
The World’s Coolest Winter campaign, launched this year under the slogan “Our Winter Is Entrepreneurial,” highlights the critical role played by the UAE’s globally leading digital infrastructure in empowering sector companies, fostering a growth-enabling environment, and elevating service quality across the tourism ecosystem.
Tourism in the UAE is built on advanced digital infrastructure, with sector companies leveraging artificial intelligence and smart technologies to enhance the visitor journey - from booking and mobility to service delivery and personalisation. The country has further strengthened its position as a hub for startups and digital enterprises by combining a large and diverse customer base with advanced digital infrastructure that accelerates business scalability, while embedding global best practices in innovation and digital transformation.
The UAE has capitalised on this infrastructure to enhance visitor experiences through fast, seamless services such as smart visas and digitised facilities, more efficient visitor-flow management enabled by advanced transport systems, and real-time data access for travelers. Together, these capabilities have reinforced the UAE’s position as a global hub for innovative tourism, supported by sustained investments in technology and telecommunications.
The tourism sector is witnessing growing adoption of digital services, smart guest personalisation, advanced data analytics, intelligent check-in processes, and mobile-based service delivery. Smart platforms are also being used to promote tourism through official channels such as Visit Abu Dhabi, Visit Dubai, Visit Sharjah, Visit Ajman, and Visit Ras Al Khaimah, contributing to improved visitor experiences and stronger tourism performance.
The UAE has also made significant progress in integrating technology across the hospitality sector, where digital solutions increasingly shape service design, workforce operations, and every stage of the guest experience. Cloud platforms, AI-driven solutions, contactless check-in systems, and mobile services are collectively raising guest expectations around speed, convenience, and reliability.
The Ministry of Economy and Tourism, working in collaboration with federal and local tourism authorities, development departments, private-sector partners, and global tourism organisations, has developed an integrated national strategy for tourism development. This strategy reinforces the UAE’s position as a sustainable tourism destination by prioritising future foresight, innovation, and technology within the national tourism ecosystem - ensuring effective destination promotion, continued enhancement of the UAE tourism product, and increased tourism investment nationwide.
Digital transformation sits at the core of the National Tourism Strategy 2031, reflected in sustained investment in modern aviation networks, integrated multimodal transport systems, and infrastructure upgrades, alongside the adoption of digital travel solutions that facilitate seamless global mobility.
Advanced technologies are increasingly embedded across the tourism sector, delivering frictionless visitor experiences through fast, integrated digital government and tourism services, including visa issuance, tourism information platforms, smart transport solutions, and digitally enabled road and public transport networks such as metro systems and technology-equipped buses.
The hospitality sector has similarly embraced AI and advanced technologies across hotels and leisure destinations to deliver innovative, personalised guest experiences. Today, many hotels in the UAE rely on intelligent virtual systems to handle routine guest inquiries, with 39 percent of hospitality operators using chatbots or virtual assistants to provide round-the-clock support, deliver recommendations, and manage administrative tasks - enabling staff to focus on higher-value, more complex interactions.
Within the framework of smart tourism infrastructure, Abu Dhabi is working toward becoming the world’s first government fully powered by artificial intelligence by 2027. The emirate aims to automate 100 percent of government operations, supported by AED13 billion in digital infrastructure investment under the Abu Dhabi Digital Government Strategy 2025 - 2027. This ambition is reinforced by major projects such as Zayed International Airport, which launched the Smart Travel initiative using biometric technologies, enhancing passenger experience by reducing airport processing times by up to 70 percent.
Dubai has also built a robust foundation through advanced digital infrastructure, 5G networks, and paperless government services. These initiatives support secure data exchange, provide real-time insights for the tourism sector, and advance sustainable smart-city practices. Digital hotel check-in has been adopted as a primary channel across Dubai’s hotels and holiday homes, enabling a fast, secure, and intelligent arrival experience for local and international guests.
These initiatives have improved operational efficiency, reduced waiting times, and created a more agile hospitality ecosystem aligned with the expectations of modern travelers. New technologies allow visitors to complete check-in procedures before arrival via smartphones by verifying identity data and registering biometric information once, without repeating the process on future visits. Upon arrival, guests follow a fully digital pathway that eliminates reception desk queues, with verified data securely reused until identification expiry.
For repeat visits, quick biometric authentication - such as facial recognition - confirms access within seconds. This significantly enhances visitor comfort, particularly for repeat travelers within 12 months of their previous visit, who account for nearly a quarter of Dubai’s annual visitors. It also improves hotel operational efficiency and aligns seamlessly with Dubai’s advanced digital ecosystem, including smart corridors at Dubai International Airport that have reduced passport-control processing to seconds. The technology is designed for seamless integration with existing hotel applications and digital platforms and can extend to other guest touchpoints such as car rentals, enabling a fully integrated and personalised tourism experience across the emirate.
To support startups in the tourism sector, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism signed a memorandum of understanding with Mastercard, a global leader in payment technology solutions, to establish a first-of-its-kind city-level digital partnership. The agreement supports the development and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises by providing access to digital tools, resources, mentorship, and guidance to strengthen innovation, competitiveness, and long-term sustainability.
The partnership also accelerates tourism ecosystem growth by leveraging digital technologies to advance Dubai’s tourism sector, while innovative payment solutions and enhanced visitor experiences support the emirate’s ambition to rank among the world’s top three cities for leisure, business, and specialised services.