Dubai: Dubai attracted over 14.2 million overnight visitors in 2015, up 7.5 per cent over 2014, according to a statement on Wednesday from Dubai Tourism.

The growth in visitor numbers is double the United Nations World Travel Organisation’s (UNWTO) projected 3-4 per cent global travel growth for the same period.

India has become Dubai’s top tourism source market for the first time, with over 1.6 million tourists in 2015. Saudi Arabia followed with 1.54 million visitors.

Travellers from Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Eastern European region to Dubai fell 22.5 per cent year-on-year in 2015. Visitors from the Australasia region dropped 6.3 per cent year-on-year. However, Dubai Tourism did not give visitor numbers from these source markets.

Despite the devaluation of the yuan, there were 450,000 Chinese tourists in Dubai last year, up 29 per cent compared to 2014.

“2015 was volatile for travel globally, as we have all witnessed a range of disruptive factors, ranging from slackening economic growth in Asian and European markets to currency fluctuations across the world,” said Helal Saeed Al Merri, Director General of Dubai Tourism, in the statement.

“Yet if Dubai is to hit its 20 million visitors per year target in the next five years, we must deliver a threshold 7-8 per cent annual growth consistently, which has put even greater emphasis on strong sector-wide collaboration,” he added.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries accounted for the highest share of visitor volumes for 2015, with a total of 3.3 million, up 12.8 per cent over 2014.

Saudi Arabia remained the top market in the region, followed by Oman with over 1 million travellers.

Western Europe was the second highest regional contributor to visitor volumes, with three million tourists, a 6.1 per cent year-on-year growth, despite a strong US dollar (which the Emirati dirham is pegged to) against the euro.

Visitors from the UK grew 11 per cent year-on-year with 1.2 million visitors, while those from Germany rose 7 per cent, reaching over 460,000 visitors. However, visitors from France declined slightly, primarily in the last quarter of 2015, and tourists from Italy remained flat compared to 2014.

South Asia was the next largest region by volume last year, accounting for 2.3 million visitors, a 21.7 per cent year-on-year increase. India dominated the region, and was the second fastest growing market with a 26 per cent year-on-year growth, followed by Pakistan with 513,000 visitors, up 11 per cent year-on-year.

Over 1.6 million visitors came from the wider Middle East and North Africa region last year, representing a year-on-year growth of 1.3 per cent amid instability in the region. The number of visitors from Iran rose 6 per cent year-on-year, while tourists from Egypt and Jordan both grew by 15 per cent. Dubai Tourism, however, did not give visitor numbers.

Travellers from Asia (excluding the Indian subcontinent) increased 17.9 per cent last year, reaching 1.2 million.

Visitors from the Americas were just short of one million, up 8.2 per cent compared to 2014, while Africa remained flat compared to 2014.