© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The main purpose of this study is to determine the major factors that influence destination competitiveness from the tourist perspective. The focus is on tourism competitiveness of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A convenience sample of 218 international tourists was surveyed. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the effects of destination resources, infrastructure and support services, human resources, and business environment on the UAE tourism competitiveness. The results show that destination infrastructure and support services, followed by destination resources, had the highest significant effect on the UAE's tourism competitiveness as perceived by tourists.