Global Pulse

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  • Beijing targets 4.5-5 percent annual GDP growth through 2030

    Beijing targets 4.5-5 percent annual GDP growth through 2030

    Beijing has laid out an ambitious yet pragmatic economic roadmap for the second half of the 2020s, announcing an average annual GDP growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent for the 2026 to 2030 period as part of its newly released 15th Five-Year Plan. Unveiled to the public on Wednesday, the blueprint projects that this growth trajectory will expand the Chinese capital’s overall economic output by more than 1 trillion yuan, equivalent to approximately $147 billion, over the five-year window.

    The target builds on a strong track record of steady expansion from the previous planning cycle. Over the past five years, Beijing recorded an average annual GDP growth rate of 5.2 percent, pushing the city’s total annual GDP to 5.2 trillion yuan by the end of 2025.

    Officials from the Beijing Commission of Development and Reform noted that the new growth range was formulated after a careful balancing of long-term development needs and practical economic feasibility. The target is aligned with Beijing’s overarching 2035 vision to roughly double the city’s 2020 economic output, while intentionally building flexibility into growth projections to accommodate ongoing structural economic adjustment, deepening reform efforts, and a continued shift toward higher-quality, sustainable growth rather than sheer expansion.

    Of the 13 sector-focused chapters in the plan, the first five are dedicated to reinforcing Beijing’s core role as China’s national capital, with particular focus placed on strengthening its standing as a leading international exchange hub and a national center for scientific and technological innovation.

    On the front of international openness, the plan sets a clear target to raise Beijing’s share of the country’s total cross-border passenger flows from 3.08 percent in 2025 to roughly 3.8 percent by 2030. City planners aim to achieve this by upgrading targeted service improvements designed to position Beijing as the preferred entry point for international travelers visiting China.

    For scientific and technological advancement, Beijing plans to ramp up research and development investment to more than 6 percent of its total annual GDP. Leveraging its existing innovation ecosystem— which currently hosts 145 national key laboratories, accounting for 28 percent of all such facilities across China, alongside a dense network of top-tier research institutions and industry-leading technology companies— the city is positioned to generate a wave of new original scientific and technological breakthroughs in the coming years.

    Beyond economic and innovation goals, the plan identifies expanded social support for elderly and child care as a top policy priority for the 2026-2030 period. As of 2024, Beijing was home to more than 687,000 residents aged 80 or older. To meet growing demand for elder care services, the city aims to build a fully accessible, inclusive care network that will see regional elderly care service centers cover 80 percent of all urban subdistricts and rural townships by the end of the planning period.

    The comprehensive five-year blueprint also includes detailed targets and policy roadmaps for childcare provision, K-12 and higher education, public healthcare improvements, coordinated regional development across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei corridor, urban renewal projects, and public safety infrastructure upgrades.

  • ‘Ketamine Queen’ sentenced to 15 years in Matthew Perry overdose death

    ‘Ketamine Queen’ sentenced to 15 years in Matthew Perry overdose death

    More than two years after beloved *Friends* star Matthew Perry was found dead in his Los Angeles home, the ringleader of an illegal drug ring linked to his death has received a substantial federal prison sentence. Forty-two-year-old Jasveen Sangha, the woman infamously labeled the ‘Ketamine Queen’, was handed a 15-year prison term after pleading guilty to federal charges that included distributing the illicit ketamine that contributed to Perry’s October 2023 death.

    Sangha, an American-British dual citizen, entered her guilty plea back in September 2024, reversing her initial not guilty plea just weeks before her trial was set to begin. Prosecutors painted a damning picture of her operation, describing her Los Angeles residence as a full-fledged ‘drug-selling emporium’ that generated massive profits to fund a luxury lifestyle. When federal agents raided her North Hollywood stash house and personal home, they uncovered dozens of vials of injectable ketamine alongside thousands of pills containing methamphetamine, cocaine, and Xanax. Court records also confirm Sangha’s connection to a second fatal overdose: she admitted to selling ketamine to Cody McLaury in 2019, who died just hours after purchasing the drug from her.

    Before the sentencing hearing, Perry’s family made a impassioned plea to the judge for the harshest possible penalty. In a written victim impact statement submitted to the California federal court, Debbie Perry, Matthew Perry’s stepmother, emphasized that Sangha had caused irreversible harm to their family. ‘You who has talent for business enough to make money chose the one way that hurts people,’ she wrote. ‘Please give this heartless woman the maximum prison sentence so she won’t be able to hurt other families like ours.’

    Sangha’s legal team pushed for leniency, noting that she had taken responsibility for her crimes and had no prior criminal convictions. Dozens of letters from her family and friends advocating for a reduced sentence were also submitted to the court. The judge ultimately handed down a 15-year sentence, far below the statutory maximum of 65 years that Sangha faced. She has been in federal custody since August 2024.

    Perry, who captured global audiences for his decades-long portrayal of quick-witted Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom *Friends*, had openly discussed his decades-long battle with substance use disorder. At the time of his death, he was receiving supervised ketamine-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression, a legal medical treatment. Investigators later concluded his death was caused by acute ketamine toxicity from the illicit supply of the drug.

    Ketamine is a federally controlled dissociative anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects that is only legally permitted for use administered by licensed medical professionals. Sangha is one of five people charged in connection with the illegal ketamine ring that supplied Perry, with all five co-defendants agreeing to plead guilty. Two medical professionals have already been sentenced: Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who supplied Perry with ketamine in the weeks before his death, received a 30-month prison sentence in December 2024, while Dr. Mark Chavez, who fraudulently obtained ketamine and sold it to Plasencia, was sentenced to eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release. Two remaining co-defendants are awaiting sentencing: Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who assisted in purchasing and injecting ketamine, has requested a postponement for his sentencing scheduled for this month, while Eric Fleming, who obtained ketamine from Sangha to sell to Perry, is scheduled to be sentenced in June 2025.

  • Doctoral defence in Tibetan Buddhism

    Doctoral defence in Tibetan Buddhism

    For practitioners of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism, earning the tradition’s highest academic degree is no simple feat. It demands decades of dedicated, rigorous study of Buddhist scriptures, philosophy, and core doctrines, laying a deep foundational knowledge that candidates must draw on for their final, make-or-break evaluation.

    That final public test, known as the Geshe Lharampa defence, takes place at one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most sacred sites: Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Xizang Autonomous Region. Unlike typical academic defences in secular higher education, this centuries-old ritual centres on structured, dynamic debate. Candidates must respond to probing, often challenging questions from senior monks and fellow scholar-practitioners, defending their interpretations of Buddhist teachings with sharp logical reasoning, quick critical thinking, and deep mastery of the tradition.

    This public event is far more than a degree requirement. It is a living showcase of the long-standing academic and spiritual traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, bringing together generations of practitioners to uphold centuries of knowledge transmission within the faith. Visible to onlookers, the passionate exchanges between debaters highlight the intellectual rigor that defines the path to earning the tradition’s highest honor, preserving a cultural and spiritual practice that has endured for hundreds of years.

  • Brazil’s Lula argues for ban on online betting platforms

    Brazil’s Lula argues for ban on online betting platforms

    SAO PAULO — In a stark policy shift that has sent ripples through Brazil’s multi-billion dollar online gambling sector, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced Wednesday he supports a full nationwide ban on digital betting platforms, an industry that generates an estimated $4 billion in annual revenue in Brazil and ranks among the largest global markets for the activity. The 80-year-old incumbent, who is set to run for re-election in October’s general vote, framed the unregulated growth of online gambling as a “massive tragedy” that has driven exponential growth in household debt across millions of Brazilian families.

    In an interview with Brazilian news outlet ICL Noticias, Lula made his position clear: “If it were up to me, we would shut all of them down. I am deeply concerned about the growing indebtedness of the Brazilian people. If these platforms cause widespread harm to our population, why would we allow them to continue operating? We are discussing this proposal with the utmost seriousness.”

    The president acknowledged that any ban or major regulatory overhaul would require legislative approval from Brazil’s congress, where many lawmakers maintain close political and financial ties to betting industry lobbyists. The trajectory of online betting regulation in Brazil has shifted dramatically over the past seven years: sports betting was first legalized in 2018 via legislation signed by then-President Michel Temer. After taking office, Lula’s left-leaning administration blocked a number of unlicensed platforms in 2024 before introducing a formal regulatory framework for the industry in 2025. Currently, the administration is already pushing to raise industry tax rates from the existing 12% of gross income, a proposal that has drawn fierce pushback from operators.

    Betting industry representatives have argued they support clear, standardized regulation to build a more transparent and trustworthy domestic market. But they warn that excessive tax hikes or a full ban would backfire: local licensed operators would be forced out of business, while unregulated offshore platforms would continue to capture a large share of Brazilian consumers without meeting licensing requirements or paying any domestic taxes.

    Data from a leading Brazilian commerce and services confederation, published this past March, underscores the urgency of Lula’s concerns: more than 80% of all Brazilian households currently carry some form of outstanding debt, the highest recorded share since 2010. Independent market analysts have linked a significant portion of this rising household debt burden to the rapid expansion of the online betting sector over the past five years.

    Criticism of online betting has already united a broad coalition of opposition to the industry across Brazil. Most forms of gambling remain illegal under Brazilian law, and major religious groups and social activists have long decried the social harm caused by unregulated online betting. The industry also holds a massive cultural footprint in Brazil: betting companies sponsor nearly every top-flight and second-division professional soccer club in the country, and some of the nation’s biggest soccer stars — including Vinícius Júnior, Ronaldo Nazário, and Roberto Rivellino — serve as high-profile spokespeople for both domestic and international betting brands.

  • Trump to discuss leaving NATO in meeting with Rutte: White House

    Trump to discuss leaving NATO in meeting with Rutte: White House

    A high-stakes meeting at the White House on Wednesday is set to bring long-simmering transatlantic tensions to a head, as U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed he will open discussions about the possibility of a United States withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. The encounter comes just 24 hours after the U.S. and Iran reached a last-minute two-week ceasefire agreement that averted an all-out American military strike, and it unfolds against a backdrop of deep anger from the Trump administration over what it calls a betrayal by Western NATO allies.

  • Activists ring alarm bells about halt in Poland’s air pollution progress

    Activists ring alarm bells about halt in Poland’s air pollution progress

    Nestled in Central Europe, Poland has long struggled with one of the continent’s worst air pollution crises, driven overwhelmingly by a reliance on coal-fired domestic heating. The threat this poses to both public health and national energy independence has grown starker in recent years, as ongoing geopolitical instability including the Iran war has sent global fuel markets into chaos. Now, environmental advocates are sounding the alarm that Poland’s signature program to tackle this dual crisis is grinding to a halt, putting years of hard-won progress at risk.

    Before the Polish government launched its ambitious nationwide Clean Air program in 2018, persistent violations of strict European Union air quality standards were common across large swathes of the country. Launched to address the root of the problem – coal-powered home heating, which accounts for the majority of Poland’s harmful smog emissions – the initiative provides direct grants to households and small businesses to swap out old coal boilers for cleaner systems running on natural gas, electricity, or wood pellets, as well as fund upgrades to thermal insulation that cut overall domestic energy demand. The ultimate goal of the program is to replace all 3.5 million existing coal-fired heating units in the country.

    Since the program’s 2018 launch, approximately one million out of Poland’s nearly 38 million residents have taken advantage of the grants to upgrade their heating systems, leaving 2.5 million outdated units still in need of modernization. Early results have already demonstrated the policy’s tangible impact: Andrzej Guła, a representative of leading environmental non-governmental organization Polish Smog Alert, notes that the southern city of Krakow, once infamous for chronic severe smog, has seen the number of high-pollution days drop annually from 150 to just 30. While 30 days of dangerous smog remains far too many for public health, the sharp decline proves the program delivers meaningful change when supported.

    That progress, however, has come to an abrupt standstill. In 2024, the initiative hit its peak, with more than 250,000 applications for financing submitted across the country. By the end of that year, the Polish government moved to reform the program to crack down on alleged misuse of public funds, implementing a temporary pause on all new application approvals. That pause, environmental activists argue, triggered a sharp collapse in public trust that has persisted long after the reforms were implemented. Data published by Polish Smog Alert during a Warsaw press conference on March 31 showed that total application numbers in 2025 were just one-fifth of the 2024 peak, and the downward spiral has continued into 2026. The organization warns that progress on cutting air pollution and reducing domestic energy use has now plateaued entirely, with no signs of a rebound.

    Krzysztof Bolesta, Secretary of State at Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment, defended the government’s reforms, framing the changes as a necessary step to ensure public funding only goes to eligible, high-impact projects and prevent waste of taxpayer resources. He acknowledged the unique challenge Poland faces in the EU, noting no other member state has such a high share of coal in residential heating. While Bolesta reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improving national air quality, he admitted that the work will remain extraordinarily difficult, and Poland will likely continue to lag behind other EU nations on pollution reduction for the foreseeable future.

    Environmental leaders say the current global energy instability caused by the Iran war should act as a critical wake-up call for the Polish government to revitalize the stalled program. Piotr Siergiej, another activist with Polish Smog Alert, explained that cutting domestic energy demand through the Clean Air initiative directly strengthens Poland’s energy security by reducing the country’s reliance on volatile imported fossil fuels and biomass, even for lower-carbon alternatives like wood pellets. “This program can become an epochal chance to energetically transform our buildings and homes, to make us more independent from those energy crises which we are facing now and whose future we can’t predict,” Siergiej said.

  • In Trump war on Iran, tactical wins and long-term damage to US

    In Trump war on Iran, tactical wins and long-term damage to US

    When former U.S. President Donald Trump launched a joint military campaign against Iran alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 28, he positioned the action as a definitive warning to Tehran to never challenge American military power, while calling on Iranian citizens to overthrow the country’s unpopular clerical leadership. Weeks of intense conflict ended this Tuesday with a two-week ceasefire between the two adversaries, and the outcome reveals a stark contradiction: while Trump claimed victory over the tentative reopening of the Strait of Hormuz – a waterway that Iran only closed in retaliation for the initial attack – the Islamic Republic’s governing authority has emerged more deeply entrenched domestically, and Tehran’s military operations have inflicted widespread disruption across the Middle East.

    The campaign was driven largely by Israel’s long-standing strategic goal of undermining the Iranian government, which has been the Jewish state’s most bitter regional adversary for decades. For the United States, however, Trump’s objectives remained muddled and inconsistent throughout the conflict. He framed the strikes as a push to destroy Iran’s missile arsenal and block the country from developing a nuclear weapon – a puzzling framing, given that Trump had previously claimed he had already “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, and formal diplomatic talks over the nuclear program were already ongoing when the war began.

    As the conflict progressed, Trump walked back his early rhetoric about “librating” the Iranian people. Days before the ceasefire, he made a threat that was widely interpreted as genocidal, warning that Iran, home to one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, would be wiped off the map entirely. Analysts across the political spectrum have since concluded that the conflict has inflicted lasting damage to U.S. strategic interests, even as it delivered limited short-term tactical gains.

    “ I think the US has lost the narrative war and the information war inside Iran, regionally in the Middle East, internationally, and even here at home,” said Alireza Nader, a veteran Iran analyst based in the United States. Nader noted that even Iranians who have long been critical of the Islamic Republic have rallied behind the country’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in response to U.S.-Israeli strikes that hit civilian targets including universities, bridges, and manufacturing facilities. “It is in the US national security interest to have a long-term positive relationship with Iran, and Trump really damaged that possibility for no reason whatsoever,” Nader added. “A lot of people who hate the regime are also outraged at the vast destruction of civilian infrastructure.”

    Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, argues that the strikes have only fueled nationalist solidarity across Iran, uniting disparate factions behind the hardline government. “For the US, they didn’t achieve any of their set goals. Nothing changed about the nuclear program. Iran still has operational missiles, it still has drones, the state has become more hardline, and there has been no regime change,” Mortazavi said.

    Not all analysts see the campaign as a total loss for the United States. Michael Singh, a former top Middle East advisor to President George W. Bush and current managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, acknowledged that the U.S.-led campaign did significantly degrade Iran’s short-term military capabilities, destroying large stockpiles of missiles and drones, crippling the country’s navy and air force, and eliminating multiple senior military leaders. “From a US perspective, I would say the US was operationally brilliant but the conflict was strategically indecisive,” Singh explained.

    Paradoxically, Singh added, the overwhelming display of U.S.-Israeli military power could push Iran to accelerate its nuclear ambitions. “Iran has seen that the US and Israel together have a vastly superior military capability, and of course that could create a stronger incentive to pursue nuclear weapons as a deterrent,” he said.

    Despite the military disruption, Iran has emerged from the opening phase of the conflict with new diplomatic leverage ahead of planned long-term negotiations set to launch this Saturday in Pakistan. A core topic of the talks will be the future of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical chokepoint at the entrance to the Persian Gulf through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s global oil supplies pass. During the conflict, Iran proved it can quickly shut down the strait to disrupt global energy markets, a point it has made clear it will use as a bargaining chip.

    Tehran has agreed to allow unrestricted safe passage through the waterway for the duration of the ceasefire, but has already floated the idea of implementing a new toll system for transiting vessels, with the revenue going toward post-war reconstruction in Iran. For its part, the United States has made a major concession during the conflict, relaxing decades-old sanctions on Iranian oil exports for the first time to bring down sky-high global oil prices – a move driven by political concerns over voter anger over energy costs ahead of upcoming U.S. elections.

    Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, explained that if Tehran can secure acceptable concessions from Washington in the upcoming talks, it will be able to frame the entire conflict as a political victory. If Iran secures U.S. assurances, it can “argue that escalation produced negotiations on terms it could accept,” Vaez said. He added that the underlying balance of power in the standoff has not shifted dramatically: Iran still retains its stockpile of enriched uranium, while the United States has made clear that its immediate priority is preventing further disruption to global energy markets – particularly through the Strait of Hormuz – rather than adopting Israel’s more maximalist goal of toppling the Iranian government entirely. “That points both to Trump’s appetite for a deal and to the limitations of the strategy pursued so far,” Vaez noted.

  • Starmer hopes to establish key diplomatic role for Britain as he heads to the Gulf

    Starmer hopes to establish key diplomatic role for Britain as he heads to the Gulf

    Fresh off the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal that paused tit-for-tat hostilities across the Middle East, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has launched a three-day diplomatic tour of Gulf states with a single, high-stakes core goal: locking in the temporary truce and unblocking the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz, a linchpin of global energy supplies.

    Downing Street confirmed ahead of the trip that Starmer’s central focus will be advancing coordinated diplomatic work to entrench the ceasefire, a breakthrough that emerged after weeks of escalating conflict between Washington, Tehran and their regional allies. In remarks delivered early Wednesday, the prime minister struck a cautious but hopeful tone, noting that the overnight agreement has already delivered a much-needed moment of de-escalation for the region and energy markets worldwide. “Together with our partners we must do all we can to support and sustain this ceasefire, turn it into a lasting agreement and reopen the Strait of Hormuz,” Starmer said, framing the mission as a critical test of British diplomatic leadership in a fractured regional landscape.

    The current standoff over the strait traces back to early March, when Iran closed the 21-mile waterway – which carries roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil and gas supplies – in retaliation for a joint U.S.-Israeli military strike on Iranian territory. While Tehran has already offered a two-week window of “safe passage” for commercial vessels during upcoming negotiations on a 10-point Iranian proposal, the long-term status of the strait remains unresolved. The Iranian plan enshrines the country’s continued full control over the waterway and includes a controversial provision to charge all passing vessels a minimum toll of $1 per barrel, to be paid in either Chinese yuan or cryptocurrency, a provision that has raised concerns among energy importing nations.

    This diplomatic push comes after London hosted a high-profile summit last week aimed at assembling a broad international coalition to pressure Iran to fully reopen the strait. But the initiative suffered an early setback: major regional players including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Turkey and Pakistan all declined to attend, leaving Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as the only Middle Eastern nations to join the coalition. Western partners including France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Canada and Japan did sign on, but the absence of key Gulf states has left the UK’s effort far from the broad-based consensus it was designed to achieve. Downing Street has not yet released a full list of which Gulf nations Starmer will visit during the tour, fueling speculation that he will hold private outreach to the non-participating regional powers to win their support.

    Starmer’s mission comes against a backdrop of shifting British diplomatic alliances, as London navigates increasingly tense relations with the U.S. under the second Trump administration. Over the past month, Trump has repeatedly criticized Starmer’s government for not doing enough to back the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran. While Starmer initially resisted U.S. requests to access British military bases for strikes on Iranian targets, he ultimately approved the use of those facilities for attacks on Iranian missile sites, and later for operations aimed at forcing the strait open. When Trump demanded in mid-March that NATO allies deploy warships to the waterway to enforce its reopening – even threatening that the alliance faced a “very bad” future if members refused to comply – Britain joined other major European powers in rejecting the call, a snub that further worsened transatlantic tensions.

    The UK’s independent coalition initiative is widely interpreted as a deliberate effort to align London more closely with European partners and repair its longstanding ties with Gulf allies, at a moment when U.S. policy in the region has divided global powers. Like London, many Gulf states have pursued independent strategies for reopening the strait that diverge from Washington’s more confrontational approach. But with only two small Gulf states currently backing the UK plan, the prime minister faces an uphill battle to win buy-in from the region’s most influential powers, leaving the success of his mission very much in doubt.

    The trip also carries a clear signal of the rapidly shifting status of Britain’s once-close relationship with Israel: Starmer has no plans to visit Israel during his Middle East tour, a break from longstanding tradition for sitting British prime ministers. Analysts say this choice underscores just how far bilateral relations have deteriorated over the past two years. While London cooperated militarily with Israel during its 2024-2025 military campaign in Gaza, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog was hosted in London in late 2025, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is effectively unwelcome in the UK due to an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes. Relations have cooled even further amid Starmer’s public reluctance to fully back the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

  • ‘Sheep-killing’ in Shanghai

    ‘Sheep-killing’ in Shanghai

    In the bustling metropolis of Shanghai, a quirky new social media trend has turned a small local matcha boutique into an unexpected magnet for international visitors, drawing crowds that wait for hours just to join the viral fun. The phenomenon, dubbed the ‘sheep-killing plan’ by netizens, centers around one signature menu item: a matcha latte topped with an adorable, sheep-shaped dollop of milk foam. Participants complete the trend by taking one deliberate bite to swallow the creamy sheep whole, a simple act that has captured the imagination of social media users across platforms.

    The trend first gained traction after expatriate bloggers based in Shanghai shared clips and photos of their own ‘sheep-killing’ attempts across major international and domestic social media channels. What started as a casual bit of online content quickly snowballed into a must-do activity for foreign tourists exploring the city, with lines stretching around the block at Matcha Wang, the small shop that created the original drink. Visitors are willing to set aside multiple hours of their sightseeing itineraries just to secure a cup and capture their own turn at the viral challenge, turning a humble beverage into one of Shanghai’s most talked-about new tourist attractions.

    The unexpected viral success of the ‘sheep-killing’ latte highlights how social media can transform small local businesses into global destinations overnight, showcasing the unique, lighthearted cultural moments that draw international travelers to explore modern China beyond major historic landmarks.

  • DCT Abu Dhabi posts record performance across culture, tourism in 2025

    DCT Abu Dhabi posts record performance across culture, tourism in 2025

    The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has announced landmark, all-time high performance across its culture and tourism sectors in 2025, capping a year of double-digit growth that solidifies the emirate’s standing as a top-tier global cultural and travel destination. DCT Abu Dhabi’s 2025 annual report, released April 8, 2026, confirms the emirate drew 26.6 million total visitors last year, a milestone that underscores its expanding international pull and progress toward long-term, sustainable economic growth driven by cultural tourism.

    Across key performance indicators, every core segment posted strong year-on-year gains. Hotel revenue surged 19.5% to hit 9.1 billion AED, while attendance at cultural and leisure events rose 20% to 4.2 million, and the number of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) delegates jumped 40% to 2.2 million. The emirate’s cultural attractions and libraries anchored this growth, welcoming more than 8.6 million total visitors throughout the year, with the historic Qasr Al Hosn site recording a 22% annual increase in foot traffic.

    “With a strong foundation of cultural engagement and robust tourism performance, Abu Dhabi continues to grow as a world-leading destination that offers exceptional experiences,” said Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani, Undersecretary of DCT Abu Dhabi. “Landmark attractions and the continued expansion of Saadiyat Cultural District have strengthened Abu Dhabi’s global distinctiveness, while strong hotel performance reinforces long-term sustainable economic impact. Our double-digit growth in 2025 reflects the clarity of our vision and the collective efforts of the wider tourism ecosystem. This performance underscores the strength of Abu Dhabi’s culture and tourism fundamentals and our ability to adapt, innovate and grow sustainably.”

    International arrivals to the emirate rose 10% year-over-year, reaching 5.9 million hotel guests, with India leading key source markets with a dramatic 22% surge in visitor volumes compared to 2024. Gains were driven by expanded air connectivity, including three new IndiGo routes and one new Air India Express route connecting India to Abu Dhabi. By the end of 2025, India accounted for 13% of all hotel guests, totaling 436,124 visitors. Other top source markets included Russia (257,200 guests), the United Kingdom (250,906 guests), China (248,494 guests), and Saudi Arabia (200,652 guests). Chinese visitor stays saw a notable 13% annual increase, outpacing growth in many other markets.

    The 2025 event calendar delivered a record 252 cultural and leisure offerings across the emirate, headlined by the multi-region MOTN Festival that drew more than 252,000 attendees. Other high-demand major events included Coldplay’s four sold-out shows at Zayed Sports City, which welcomed 193,470 concertgoers, the Abu Dhabi T10 cricket tournament with roughly 100,000 attendees, and Liwa Village, the centerpiece of the Liwa International Festival, that hosted more than 159,000 guests. Popular heritage-focused festivals including the Al Hosn Festival, Traditional Handicrafts Festival and Maritime Heritage Festival collectively drew more than 608,000 local and international visitors.

    The MICE sector outpaced even leisure growth, with total events climbing 37% to 6,600 and delegate numbers rising 40% to 2.2 million. Large-scale industry gatherings such as IDEX/NAVDEX, Make it in the Emirates, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, and the inaugural Bridge Summit were the primary growth drivers, with the Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau’s Advantage Abu Dhabi programme supporting 175 events that attracted 464,000 delegates, a 28% annual increase.

    Cultural development remained at the core of Abu Dhabi’s 2025 growth strategy, with major institutional milestones expanding the emirate’s global cultural footprint. The Louvre Abu Dhabi retained its status as one of the emirate’s most visited cultural sites, welcoming 1.4 million guests in 2025, while Qasr Al Hosn posted 22% growth to host more than 843,000 visitors. DCT Abu Dhabi also activated more than 20 cultural sites and libraries across Abu Dhabi’s three regions in 2025, growing the emirate’s diverse network of museums, historic landmarks, archaeological sites, and art centres. Key milestone openings and reopenings included the Al Maqta’a Museum, Al Ain Museum, the new Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, and the Zayed National Museum, the UAE’s national cultural institution that tells the story of the nation’s land and people. A total of 115 public and visitor programmes spanning heritage, performing arts, education, youth and family engagement reinforced culture’s role as both a tourism draw and a community anchor.

    On the accommodation side, Abu Dhabi welcomed 5.9 million hotel guests (a 2.2% annual increase) plus an additional 338,000 guests across holiday homes and glamping sites. Overall hotel occupancy rose three percentage points to 81%, while the Average Daily Rate (ADR) climbed 19% and Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) jumped 23%, translating to the 19.5% annual growth in total hotel revenue. The average length of stay across all accommodation types hit 2.9 nights, a 3% annual increase, with visitors from Russia, the UK, Germany, and Italy recording the longest average stays, at 4.3, 4.2, 4.1, and 3.4 nights respectively. Globally, inbound air seat capacity to Abu Dhabi rose 11% for the year, while load factor improved two percentage points to 89%, reflecting strong demand that has kept pace with expanded travel access.

    Regional growth also accelerated across the emirate’s less urbanized areas. Al Ain Region welcomed 473,100 guests, a 9% annual increase, with hotel occupancy rising 9 percentage points driven primarily by leisure travel. Al Dhafra Region hosted 147,900 guests, a 3% increase, while hotel occupancy surged 19 percentage points, also fueled by leisure tourism. A dedicated regional growth strategy for Al Dhafra is scheduled for launch in 2026.

    DCT Abu Dhabi’s 2025 results put the emirate firmly on track to meet the goals of Tourism Strategy 2030, the ambitious long-term blueprint that has guided a new era of strategic expansion and sustainable development for Abu Dhabi’s travel and cultural sectors.