London: The UAE Government is creating a much-awaited federal tourism coordination and regulatory body — the National Council of Tourism and Antiquities (NCTA) — that will represent the UAE's tourism industry to the rest of the world, Gulf News can reveal.
It will initially be developed within the Ministry of Culture that is expected to develop a coordination framework among the different tourism authorities of individual emirates. Each emirate will have a member on its board.
The move, understood to be part of the three-year UAE strategy aimed at strengthening the UAE federation, will also help develop a proper countrywide tourism statistics database that will help industry observers gauge the market correctly.
The government is in the process of finalising the details before formally announcing its launch, which could be soon, informed government officials told Gulf News here.
Historically, the tourism sector's development in the UAE has largely been driven by individual emirate's tourism departments.
There has never been a federal tourism body.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) says the contribution of travel and tourism to the UAE's GDP is expected to stabilise at 20.2 per cent or Dh178.7 billion ($48.65 billion) in 2009.
According to Dubai Government statistics, the tourism sector represents roughly 20 per cent of Dubai's $54 billion GDP, while its direct and indirect contribution is estimated at between 33-35 per cent.
The UAE also does not have a tourism ministry to represent the country at global tourism events, such as the current World Travel Market (WTM) and the International Tourism Borse (ITB) or at international tourism bodies such as the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), or to sign tourism cooperation agreements.
"The move will help strengthen coordination among the various tourism bodies belonging to local governments and could strengthen the UAE tourism sector," Mohammad Al No'man, Sharjah Commerce Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) director-general, told Gulf News.
Mohammad Khamis Bin Hareb, currently director for marketing and operations at the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) of Dubai, has been appointed director-general of the NCTA, officials said.
