Tourism Facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Their Relationship to the Sports Tourism Industry

By: Dr. Hamada El-Antably

The collection of tourism facilities and conveniences is no less important by any means than the establishment of infrastructure networks; in fact, it may surpass them at times. A balance between infrastructure and superstructure likely stands behind the success of the sports tourism industry in the UAE over the past few years and into the future.

The tourism facilities provided to tourists within the tourist supply environment (the UAE) are divided into the following:

Accommodation facilities.

Supply facilities.

Transportation facilities.

Hospitality resources.

Tourism-qualified workforce.

Management and organization.

Accommodation Facilities

The ACT tourism development report successfully defined accommodation (hospitality) facilities as including hotels, sleeping services, motels, pensions, furnished apartments, holiday camps, chalets, and timeshare units. A tourist’s choice of accommodation in the UAE depends on the planned duration of their stay and the level of service desired, which correlates with their financial capabilities. Accordingly, the UAE has provided suitable accommodation units for all social classes.

The UAE boasts a large number of companies that lease furnished apartments and hotel apartments suitable for families and individuals intending a long-term stay of a week, a month, or more, while maintaining a high standard of service alongside other recreational and utility facilities. The number of furnished apartment rental companies in the country developed significantly during the last decade of the twentieth century.

Resorts and hotels can be classified by location into airport hotels, highway hotels, and suburban hotels, and by tourism class into deluxe, first, second, and third-class hotels. The UAE is linked to a series of international hotel chains spread across the world, which enjoy the highest level of service (Forti Grand – Hilton – Hyatt Regency – Ramada – Sheraton – Marriott – InterContinental – Holiday Inn). These deluxe hotels are distributed geographically across the UAE’s coasts, on the outskirts of cities, in central business districts (CBD), and in remote areas reflecting mountain environments. Alongside deluxe and first-class hotels, there is a large number of second and third-class hotels scattered across the country’s cities and suburbs.

Tourists enjoy accommodation facilities that include food and beverage services. The UAE abounds with luxury restaurants distributed across all the country’s cities, offering delicious French, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Persian cuisines, as well as a number of authentic Arab dishes. The country is distinguished by specialty restaurants focusing on specific items such as seafood and pasta restaurants, alongside numerous fast-food outlets along the roads. Additionally, popular restaurants and cafes spread throughout the UAE offer local dishes and sweets such as Harees, Thareed, Regag, and other traditional foods.

Supply Facilities

Accommodation facilities are linked to supply industries required by tourists, including the souvenir industry, bazaars, and duty-free markets in airports. Tourists also require laundry and ironing services. This category of facilities encompasses the aforementioned food and beverage services, as well as necessary commercial and sporting shops, diverse markets, pharmacies, and hair salons.

Defert classified these facilities into five hierarchically descending levels based on the tourist’s economic standing, starting with daily services, then commercial services, clothing and furniture services, security and fire services, and at the top of the hierarchical order, luxury services such as jewelry and luxury goods shops.

The UAE has been keen to ensure this diverse range of services exists within its borders, ranging from grocery, dairy, and food stores to jewelry shops and security services. Every hotel in the UAE has ensured the presence of most of these facilities, such as shops selling national and international newspapers and magazines, clothing and athletic equipment stores, photography gear, the finest perfumes and flowers, telex, fax, and internet communication services, mobile phone rental shops, audiovisual halls equipped with simultaneous interpretation systems for conferences and seminars, resident doctors in hotels for first aid, and fire protection technology on every floor of any hotel regardless of its star rating.

On the other hand—outside the hotels—many prominent shopping centers are spread across the country, such as Al Ghurair Center, Wafi Center, Al Taawun Center, Hamdan Center, City Centre, BurJuman Center, Sahara Centre, Al Fardan Center, and other commercial hubs scattered throughout the cities.

Transportation Facilities

These serve the tourism industry on three levels: the international level, linking the UAE to the rest of the world’s airports; the national level, serving tourists and connecting them to the rest of the country’s emirates; and the third level, local domestic transportation facilities that transport tourists inside the cities or the tourist destination itself during visits or internal transfers. These are represented by air-conditioned buses belonging to hotel management or travel and tourism agencies in the country, as well as hotel limousines or private taxis. All these types operate at standards matching the nature and level of tourism activity and the level of tourists, and they are subject to technical and health supervision, as the issue of transportation has been thoroughly addressed previously.

Hospitality Resources

Due to the elevated level of tourism awareness and perception among the UAE population, many tourists have experienced the spirit of the hospitable citizen. This kind spirit stands as a primary pillar alongside other components of hospitality resources, such as guide services, ease of language and communication, respect for traffic signals, ease of financial transactions via credit cards and traveler’s checks, facilitation of banking and customs procedures, and the exemption of personal items from customs duties. The country has also provided multilingual publications and tourist information regarding both archaeological and cultural tourist sites. The United Arab Emirates is considered one of the safest and most stable tourism destinations for visitors.

The UAE has eased entry visa regulations to the point where any hotel, tourism company, or commercial enterprise in the country, especially in the Emirate of Dubai, can easily grant visas to both visitors and tourists alike.

Tourism-Qualified Workforce

The growing workforce day after day contributes to elevating the level of tourism services and superstructure. The abundance of tourism companies and tour operators has helped qualify the tourism workforce in the country. The UAE includes more than 150 tourism service companies, in addition to a college that graduates qualified employees for the tourism field in the country.

Management and Organization

The connection of tourism activity to numerous sectors and fields in the UAE has led to the issuance of certain laws and regulations for tourism work, serving as a constitution to which all works and activities related to tourism activity in each emirate of the country refer.

Through these laws and regulations, all procedures related to tourism activity in the country are organized, such as hotelkeeping, travel agencies and companies, public shops, and the supervision of tourism services. Certain emirates in the country have managed to issue decrees establishing a special authority or department for tourism. For instance, the Emirate of Dubai issued a law in January 1997 establishing the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in place of the Dubai Tourism and Commerce Promotion Board, aiming to develop the tourism industry in Dubai specifically and the country generally.

Similarly, the Emirate of Sharjah issued a similar law establishing the Commerce and Tourism Development Authority to plan, formulate general strategy and policy, and practically supervise the tourism industry in its various aspects in Sharjah.

By Dr. Hamada El-Antably