said Thursday it expects to see a recovery in the UAE’s tourism sector this year with arrival numbers increasing further in 2011. In its latest report on the country’s tourism prospects analysts said they are optimistic about the tourism sector in the long term despite the impact of the global economic downturn last year. The report explained that although it sees a “rather poor outlook for the UAE in the short term” visitor numbers are likely to rebound this year and next.
BMI said it has changed its forecast of negative growth in 2009 from three percent to two percent based on “attempts by individual emirates to boost domestic tourism to compensate for the downturn in foreign visitor arrivals.” BMI said it continues to maintain a poor outlook in the short term for the UAE tourism sector because of the relatively modest growth in tourist arrivals in Dubai in H1 2009, and disappointing data on visitor numbers to Sharjah during the same period.
