A Critical Analysis of the Role of Legal System in Developing Tourism: A Case Study of the United Arab Emirates

This study sought to investigate the role of the UAE’s legal system in improving its Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI), an index defined by the World Economic Forum to assess the institutional, infrastructural, and policy status of tourism development. Adopting a descriptive–analytical method based on a cause-and-effect approach, the researchers of this study collected the required data through the examination of the UAE’s laws and regulations, policy documents, international organizations’ reports, and relevant TTDI’s data. The collected data were then analyzed based on the four sub-components of the UAE’s legal system, including business environment, safety and security, openness to the world community, and the priority of tourism for the government. The findings indicated that legal and institutional reforms in the UAE, including the liberalization of foreign investment regulations, the strengthening of legal protections for property rights and dispute resolution mechanisms, the establishment of specialized structures to ensure tourist security, and the prioritization of tourism in macro-level policymaking, had played a significant role in improving the country’s institutional environment for tourism. Furthermore, the expansion of international cooperation in the areas of visa facilitation, air transport, and trade has contributed to increased cross-border interactions and enhanced the UAE’s standing within the institutional and policy sub-indices of the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI). In contrast, a comparative analysis revealed that Iran’s tourism legal system faced limitations in areas such as foreign investment legal frameworks, institutional mechanisms for tourist security, and the scope of international cooperation. Accordingly, this study underscores the necessity of strengthening legal frameworks, fostering international cooperation, and establishing specialized institutions for tourism governance and security within Iran. In its concluding section, the study adopts a critical approach to examine the geopolitical dependencies and constraints of the UAE model, advocating for a selective localization strategy.