The celebration of World Tourism Day 2019, under the theme ‘Tourism and Jobs: A better future for all,’ reaffirms the commitment of the World Tourism Organization to highlight the skills, education, and jobs available in the tourism industry. This year’s national commemoration is yet another powerful reminder of the social, cultural, economic, and environmental values ​​of tourism, which plays a pivotal role in achieving our sustainable development goals and increasing the international tourist arrivals to Sharjah according to Sharjah Tourism Vision. This key framework aims to attract 10 million visitors to the emirate by 2021.

Under the guidance of our wise leadership, Sharjah has built a strong global presence in the tourism industry. We continue to develop innovative and sustainable solutions, in collaboration with our partners in the government and private sectors, to sustain our accomplishments. We are also committed to contributing to the ‘Sultan Al Qasimi Emiratization Project’—taking pride in being part of this all-encompassing human capacity development initiative through our specialized training courses. By offering such courses, we are helping to improve the skills and knowledge of all workers in the tourism and hospitality industries, raising the level of tourism services in Sharjah and reinforcing our aim to make our services at par with the world.  

We highly appreciate the unwavering support of our wise government leaders, who continue to extend to us all the aid we need in promoting the local tourism industry. Sharjah has enjoyed significant growth in recent years and the tourism sector has contributed more than AED 9 billion to the total gross domestic product (GDP), which now stands at AED 102.5 billion. Looking ahead, enhancing cooperation between the public and private sector entities is the key to generating greater employment opportunities for our citizens and residents and sustaining our current success.