United Arab Emirates

The travel industry in the United Arab Emirates is experiencing robust growth in 2024, driven by a resurgence in global travel demand, particularly in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) sector. The United Arab Emirates,…

The United Arab Emirates is experiencing a significant boost to tourism flows through the surging Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) sector in 2024. Renowned as a major destination for MICE tourism, the perceived safe and…

The luxury hotel segment in the United Arab Emirates is recording significant growth, with an increasing number of new high-end properties being developed. This trend aligns with the position of the United Arab Emirates as a global luxury…

Booking.com BV stands as the leading travel intermediary in the United Arab Emirates, commanding a strong presence in the local market. Following closely behind, SNTTA Emir Tours continues to hold a significant position, being one of the oldest and…

Full service carriers such as Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways continue to record positive performances, although the segment is experiencing slower growth compared to low cost counterparts. Full service carriers face competitive pressures from…

This report provides valuable insights into product innovation in the United Arab Emirates, analysing data from Euromonitor’s Innovation platform. The report covers the beauty, health and home categories, showing the level of new brand and sub-brand…

Historically, the United Arab Emirates was a market with relatively high obesity levels, compared to the rest of the world. Although obesity levels are now declining, driven by government efforts and consumers’ awareness of healthy eating, it is…

The United Arab Emirates has been following a policy of economic diversification, and has continued to build the country as a tourism, retail, and lifestyle destination, which contributed to the growth of health and wellness soft drinks in 2023. The…

According to Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer Survey, fielded January-February 2024, 13% of respondents claimed, “I am vegetarian”, and around 17% claimed, “I do not typically eat meat or fish, but will occasionally”, or in other…

The launch of the GCC’s first sugar reduction programme in February 2023 in partnership with the UAE Food and Beverage Manufacturing Group, is seeking to promote healthy eating in a market known for its high sugar consumption, and is having a…

An increasing number of consumers are becoming more concerned about their health, and keen to prevent medical problems by eating “better”. The United Arab Emirates heavily relies on imported packaged food products. This means that consumers have…

Health and wellness has been a growing trend within cooking ingredients and meals in the United Arab Emirates. The popularity of such products is a global trend which became evident in the country only recently. Selecting products that are good for…

The health and wellness industry continues to gain greater significance overall, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, as consumers have become more cognisant of the negative impact of processed food and a range of drinks on their health and…

Thin wall plastic containers are the main pack type used in sweet spreads packaging and were also continuing to gain share in the overall category in 2023. Thin wall plastic containers are the dominant pack type in chocolate spreads in the United…

In the United Arab Emirates, sauces, dips and condiments packaging is seeing glass jars taking share from metal food cans. This change is being driven by a mix of factors. Environmentally, glass jars are more recyclable and have a smaller carbon…

Flexible plastic, which is the dominant pack type for frozen processed meat and seafood in the United Arab Emirates, continued to record positive growth in this category in 2023. It has excellent barrier properties, protecting the meat or seafood…

With shelf stable products dominating processed fruit and vegetables in packaging unit volume terms, metal food cans continued to be the dominant pack type in the overall processed fruit and vegetables category in 2023. While shelf stable fruit and…

The vast majority of consumers typically consume dairy products, but as the health and wellness trend spreads across the United Arab Emirates, a niche segment of the population has shown an increasing preference for plant-based foods. Plant-based…

Flexible aluminium/plastic is the dominant pack type in dry soup, which, given it is the biggest category in overall meals and soups, means that it is also therefore the dominant meals and soups packaging format. Flexible aluminium/plastic was also…

In December 2022, Almarai successfully conducted a commercial trial utilising 10% post-consumer recycled PET plastic in its Zabadi cups. This initiative, launched officially in 2023, aims to drive demand for post-consumer recycled material, thereby…