Dubai Raises the Sustainability Benchmark for Tourism and Hospitality Sector

• 𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘪’𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 (𝘋𝘌𝘛) 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘪 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 (𝘋𝘚𝘛) 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 27 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘪 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 27 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘪’𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 19 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺, 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. • 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘪 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 27 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘪 𝘞𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 190,000 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 1,475 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 2017. • 𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘪 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 237 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 2026, 𝘶𝘱 55% 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 153 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦.

Dubai is raising the bar for sustainability across its tourism and hospitality industry with two new training programmes launched by the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). Developed under the Dubai Sustainable Tourism initiative and delivered by Dubai College of Tourism through the Dubai Way platform, the courses are designed to help tourism professionals translate sustainability principles into practical operational measures.

A central element of the initiative is the updated 27 Measures of Sustainability framework, which expands Dubai’s previous 19 Sustainability Requirements. The expanded framework introduces additional expectations across energy and water efficiency, waste management, responsible sourcing, employee engagement, guest awareness, community initiatives and climate action. Hotels will be assessed against these measures in future cycles of the Dubai Sustainable Tourism Stamp.

The second programme, Dubai Sustainable Tourism, takes a broader approach to sustainability across the sector. It covers responsible resource consumption, waste management, circular practices and climate action, while highlighting the role of hotel Green Teams in implementing sustainability initiatives. Together, the courses combine framework-specific guidance with wider sustainability education for tourism and hospitality professionals.

The training will be delivered through Dubai Way, DET’s online training and engagement platform. Since its launch in 2017, the platform has trained more than 190,000 candidates, delivered over three million training hours and enrolled more than 1,475 establishments. DET is also supporting hotels through tools such as the DST Carbon Calculator, which helps businesses monitor emissions, identify reduction opportunities and assess potential cost savings.

The updated framework comes as participation in Dubai’s Sustainable Tourism Stamp programme continues to expand. In July 2026, DET recognised 237 hotels in the programme’s third cycle, compared with 153 hotels in the previous cycle and 70 when the programme was launched in 2023.

For hospitality businesses across the GCC, Dubai’s approach reflects a broader shift towards embedding sustainability into operational standards rather than treating it solely as a reporting or branding exercise. As expectations around resource efficiency, emissions, waste, responsible sourcing and climate action become more structured, businesses will need reliable data and practical strategies to translate sustainability requirements into measurable improvements.

Cognitud can support hospitality and tourism businesses in strengthening sustainability performance through resource and emissions assessments, operational efficiency reviews, responsible sourcing strategies, sustainability measurement, and practical climate action planning; helping organisations turn sustainability requirements into actionable business improvements.