Key Tourism Development Factors in the UAE

Abstract

The article analyzes the practical steps of UAE state institutions to encourage the development of tourism in the country, while observing a compromise between the forced liberalization of certain spheres of social life under the pressure of external and internal circumstances, and the preservation of Islamic canons as a dominant in the ideological and practical field. It is noted that the development of the tourist sector in UAE economy became possible due to the achievement of a balance between global trends and preserving a conservative way of life in the society based on the principles of Islamic ethics. The latter reveals itself in the corporate culture – voluntary corporate social responsibility, and a strict migration policy, known as kafala, which is a component of the industrial relations between the employer (contractor) and the migrant worker. The reduction of potential socio-cultural tensions as a result of the influx of tourists from a foreign cultural environment is achieved by the state not only through the implementation of various state programmes aimed at maintaining Islamic canons in the socio-economic and spiritual spheres of the country, but also through the achievement of broad awareness of those entering the country of the presence of a wide range of prohibitions and restrictions. The author concludes that the Islamic factor combined with a nationally oriented domestic policy can lead to impressive results in travel activities, as has been achieved in the UAE.