UAE approves 5-year tourist visas to support tourism economy

The government of the United Arab Emirates on Monday (Jan 6) approved multi-entry five-year tourist visas for all nationalities.

The decision was made to support the country’s tourism economy, the UAE Cabinet said in a statement.

Currently, tourists can enter the UAE on a free multi-entry visa valid for 90 days.

The Cabinet also approved the introduction of a visa waiver for Mexican citizens travelling to the UAE.

Both new policies will be implemented during the first quarter of this year.

The number of international tourist arrivals to the country’s two biggest emirates, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, reached 15.88 million during the first nine months of 2019, up from 15.26 million during the same period in 2018, according to the Central Bank of the UAE Q3 Economic Review.

In 2018, Dubai alone attracted 15.9 million visitors, up from 15.8 million in 2017, according to data from the World Tourism Organisation (WTO).

Travel and tourism contributed a total of 164.7 billion dirhams ($44.8 billion) to the UAE’s economy in 2018, up 2.4% from 2017, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

WTTC data puts visitor spend in 2018 at 136.8 billion dirhams ($37.25 billion).

© SalaamGateway.com 2020 All Rights Reserved