DCT Abu Dhabi and Healthy Living Strengthen Collaboration to Enable Healthier Choices Across Abu Dhabi’s Hospitality Sector
The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has signed a collaboration agreement with Healthy Living, Abu Dhabi’s government-led movement for supporting longer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives across the emirate, to enable healthier food choices across the emirate’s tourism and hospitality sector.
Abu Dhabi’s hospitality sector serves millions of meals each year to residents, families and visitors, making it an important setting for promoting healthier lifestyles. By making healthier choices part of everyday dining experiences, the sector can play an important role in supporting health and wellbeing across the emirate.
Under the agreement, DCT Abu Dhabi and Healthy Living will work together to develop strategic, evidence-informed initiatives across the tourism and hospitality sectors. This will include developing policies and guidance, engaging hotels, restaurants and tourism operators, and using research and evidence to identify, test and scale effective interventions. Efforts will also support industry awareness, engagement, and communications to encourage participation and innovation across the sector.
The collaboration builds on two initiatives introduced by DCT Abu Dhabi and Healthy Living, in close collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC), to improve the food environment across Abu Dhabi’s hospitality sector.
The first requires all hotel restaurants and food and beverage outlets operating under a DCT Abu Dhabi-issued tourism licence to offer at least one healthy option within each adult menu category, including appetizers, main courses, side dishes and desserts. At least 50% of all children’s menu items must meet approved healthy nutritional standards. These dishes can be identified through SEHHI, Abu Dhabi’s approved nutritional classification developed by ADPHC.
The second aims to reduce sodium intake and support heart health by introducing low-sodium salt as the default table option, replacing standard salt. Evidence from a study of nearly 21,000 people found that switching to low-sodium salt was associated with 14% fewer strokes, 13% fewer major cardiovascular events, and 12% fewer premature deaths.
His Excellency Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, Director General for Tourism at DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “These new policies reflect Abu Dhabi’s commitment to making health and wellbeing an integral part of the hospitality experience. By making healthier choices part of everyday dining, we are creating a more positive experience for residents and visitors while strengthening Abu Dhabi’s position as a destination for wellbeing. Our collaboration with Healthy Living demonstrates how tourism, hospitality and public health can work together to support healthier lifestyles and raise standards across the sector.”
His Excellency Dr Ahmed Alkhazraji, Executive Director, Healthy Living, said: “For us, it’s simple – we want the healthy choice to be the easy choice. Our collaboration with DCT Abu Dhabi allows us to make practical, system-level changes across a sector that reach millions of residents and visitors each year.
“We are already seeing what that can mean in practice – from changing what’s on the menu to what’s on the table. This agreement gives us the opportunity to build on that progress, working with the hospitality sector to test and scale further initiatives that make healthier choices more accessible across Abu Dhabi.”
Both policies came into effect on 1 July 2026, with a three-month implementation period to support establishments in adopting the new requirements. Full compliance and enforcement will apply from 1 October 2026.
Building on this foundation, DCT Abu Dhabi and Healthy Living will continue to work with partners across the hospitality sector to identify new opportunities to support healthier choices, test effective approaches and expand initiatives that can improve health and wellbeing for residents and visitors across Abu Dhabi.
