DUBAI  –  The repercussions of the Iran war have been felt globally, but the United Arab Emirates has suffered a more direct impact than most, targeted by missile and drone strikes. Those attacks have also threatened its image as a glamorous haven for tourists to the Middle East. Still, Abu Dhabi is pushing ahead with major tourism initiatives. It announced on May 14 it will invest $1.7 billion in an immersive experience center called Sphere. Operated by US-based Sphere Entertainment Co, the first Sphere opened in Las Vegas in 2023 and has hosted concerts by U2 and Phish. “We are doubling down on our tourism ecosystem as a whole,” Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, the chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT), told CNN’s Becky Anderson on the day of the announcement. Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has invested heavily to develop its tourism industry in a bid to diversify its economy away from oil, including building attractions like the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, which is home to an international outpost of the Louvre.

A branch of the Guggenheim Museum is nearing completion. In 2025, Abu Dhabi hosted 26.6 million visitors and 5.9 million hotel guests, according to its tourism agency. The emirate hopes to attract 39.3 million visitors per year by 2030, and increase the sector’s contribution to its gross domestic product to AED90 billion ($24.5 billion). But the UAE has faced strikes from Iran in response to the war the US and Israel launched on Tehran in late February. Drones have targeted tourist infrastructure in the country, including airports. A drone strike last Sunday that caused a fire outside a nuclear facility “threatened nuclear safety in the country,” according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Abu Dhabi authorities said there was no release of radioactive material, and no risk to the public or environment. Hotel occupancy rates in Abu Dhabi during the Eid al-Fitr holiday in mid-March fell by 45% compared with last year, according to real estate data and analytics provider CoStar. The war triggered widespread flight cancellations. Although the UAE fully lifted airspace restrictions in early May, many airlines still haven’t resumed flights. Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa, for example, has suspended flights to Abu Dhabi until late October.