******* had the highest level of the Human Development Index (HDI) worldwide in 2023 with a value of *****. With a score of ****, ****** followed closely behind *********** and had the second-highest level of human development in that year. The rise of the Asian tigers In the decades after the Cold War, the four so-called Asian tigers, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (now a Special Administrative Region of China) experienced rapid economic growth and increasing human development. At number eight and number 13 of the HDI, respectively, *********************** are the only Asian locations within the top-15 highest HDI scores. Both locations have experienced tremendous economic growth since the 1980’s and 1990’s. In 1980, the per capita GDP of Hong Kong was ***** U.S. dollars, increasing throughout the decades until reaching ****** in 2023, which is expected to continue to increase in the future. Meanwhile, in 1989, Singapore had a GDP of nearly ** billion U.S. dollars, which has risen to nearly *** billion U.S. dollars today and is also expected to keep increasing. Growth of the UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the only Middle Eastern country besides Israel within the highest ranking HDI scores globally. Within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the UAE has the third-largest GDP behind Saudi Arabia and Israel, reaching nearly *** billion U.S. dollars by 2022. Per capita, the UAE GDP was around ****** U.S. dollars in 1989, and has nearly doubled to ****** U.S. dollars by 2021. Moreover, this is expected to reach over ****** U.S. dollars by 2029. On top of being a major oil producer, the UAE has become a hub for finance and business and attracts millions of tourists annually.

In 2024, the number of hotels in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was ***. The source revealed that there were *** hotel apartment buildings with more than ** thousand apartments in Dubai in the same year. Tourism in Dubai Dubai, also considered the shopping capital of the Middle East, offers a blend of modern and Islamic culture. Tourism plays an important role in Dubai’s economy, and the government has been crafting successful strategies for attracting foreign monetary and tourists. Among the leading city destinations by tourism attractiveness worldwide, Dubai ranked second after Paris in 2021. The city's high-end lifestyle placed Dubai first among the leading cities in international visitor spending worldwide in 2018. Relative to the other emirates, Dubai also recorded the highest average daily rate of hotels in the country in 2022, at around *** UAE dirhams. Emirati hospitality UAE is, by many measures, a leading touristic destination in the MENA region. The country welcomed about ***** million tourists in 2021, ranking first among the Middle Eastern countries with the largest number of international tourist arrivals. The Emirate of Dubai first initialized openness to international tourism to establish a successful economy that would outlast oil reserves. Nowadays, all emirates have strategies in place that offer enticing opportunities for tourists. While both inbound and domestic tourism are important, inbound tourism usually plays a more crucial role in a country’s economy since it provides foreign capital. The absolute economic contribution of tourism in UAE was forecast to continue to grow, projected to reach approximately **** billion U.S. dollars in 2028.