Sheikh Mohammed recalls: I was laughed at for tourism vision
DUBAI, October 9, 2023
The UAE's change in mindset and visionary steps taken during the past few decades have helped the country rank among global leaders in tourism, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has indicated.
In the recent UNWTO report on international tourist spending, the UAE ranked fourth with a total of AED224 billion ($61 billion) spend last year alone, outperforming countries such as France, Italy, Turkey, and Germany, Sheikh Mohmmaed said in a X (formerly Twitter) post.
Narrating how he argued for a change in mindset at at meeting of GCC ministers in the 1980s, he said in the X post: "On the sidelines of one of the Cooperation Council meetings in the 1980s, while the ministers were discussing the crises that the region is going through and the endless challenges... I was in my mid-thirties and I was the youngest person in the session... and the most bored of the endless political talk... I asked to talk, and I suggested the ministers have a different proposal: Why don't we develop the Gulf cities into global tourist destinations... and can we start from Dubai?
"All eyes turned to me... and there was a little silence... before it was interrupted by the laughter of one of the older foreign ministers...
"Then he said: What will tourists find in Dubai and our Gulf cities? The desert ! Sand ! Heat and humidity! The rest laughed..
"Then he added a tone of experience to his speech and said: Then, Sheikh Mohammed, where is the cultural and civilizational heritage and human history in Dubai so that people can visit it!
"I did not argue with him, but I felt sad because we do not make better use of our wealth, we do not trust our youth, and we do not try anything different other than what we know and are familiar with!
"Two days ago, the United Nations World Tourism Organization report was issued. The UAE ranked fourth in the world in international tourist spending, with a total of 224 billion dirhams last year alone, outperforming ancient countries such as France, Italy, Turkey, and Germany in international tourist spending. Only the United States preceded us in the ranking. Spain and Britain.
"I read the report and remembered my friend, the Foreign Minister."
