Abu Dhabi is going full throttle on its post-oil play—and it's not waiting around for Brent prices to cooperate. Even with crude trading near $65 a barrel, the UAE capital is investing like oil is at $100. Mohamed Al Mubarak, who chairs the city's culture and tourism authority and sits on the Executive Council, says the momentum won't stop. Over $4.1 billion has already been deployed into tourism in the past five years, part of a $10 billion strategy to supercharge expat and visitor inflow. The result? Non-oil sectors now account for more than 50% of GDP after expanding 59% over the past decade.
And the pipeline is just getting started. The city opened the world's largest teamLab digital art museum this week—182,000 square feet of immersive light, sound, and scent—just minutes from the Louvre Abu Dhabi. More mega-museums are coming soon: a new Guggenheim, a natural history museum, and the long-anticipated Zayed National Museum. These projects aren't window dressing—they're working. Culture and tourism grew 22% in 2024 and now make up 9% of GDP, with a 13% target set for this year. Hotel occupancy is already averaging 82%, and Abu Dhabi plans to add 15,000 to 20,000 rooms by 2032 to keep up.
Abu Dhabi is also betting big on lifestyle and global finance. Hedge fund heavyweights like Brevan Howard and Kirkoswald are moving in, alongside NBA games and Coldplay concerts at Etihad Arena. Al Mubarak says 30,000 to 35,000 new jobs will be created this year in the tourism sector alone. The message is clear: the emirate isn't just hedging against oil—it's designing a future where it doesn't need it. For investors looking at long-term regional exposure, Abu Dhabi is quickly becoming the Middle East's most compelling growth story.
