Dubai to hold annual tourism summit

Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism announced the launch of the annual Dubai Tourism Summit on Thursday.

The first-of-its-kind travel forum in the region will lay the foundation for a home-grown world-class thought leadership programme to boost the city’s tourism industry and support regional and global tourism.

The DET also shared the latest tourism report for the first 10 months of 2022. Data showed that Dubai welcomed 11.4 million international overnight visitors between January and October, an impressive year-on-year increase of 134 per cent.

“The Dubai Tourism Summit will see us working even more closely with our domestic and global stakeholders and partners as we focus on pushing the boundaries further to highlight Dubai’s position as the top international destination and the best city in the world to live in, work and invest. With the Dubai Tourism Summit, we will elevate our blueprint for sustainable growth, contributing towards our industry’s continued success and supporting the recovery of regional and global tourism,” said Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of DET.

“Our performance in the first ten months of 2022 indicates that we are on target to achieving our tourism goals. It is also a testament to our city’s resilience, robust and diversified market strategy, solid collaboration model between the government and private sectors, and the strength of the city’s diverse destination proposition. We are well-placed to end this year on a resounding note and perform even better in 2023 and beyond.”

Surging tourism

The 11.4 million international overnight visitors who arrived in Dubai between January and October 2022 represented a significant leap over the 4.88 million visitors that the city welcomed for the same period in 2021. The numbers are close to the pre-pandemic record of 13.50 million international visitors in the first ten months of 2019.

Hotel occupancy and inventory

Average hotel occupancy in Dubai between January-October 2022 stood at 71 per cent, compared to 64 per cent in the corresponding period last year and just short of the 74 per cent during the pre-pandemic period of 2019. Dubai’s occupancy continues to closely trail the top benchmark cities: Istanbul (75 per cent), New York (74 per cent), Paris (73 per cent), London (73 per cent) and Los Angeles (72 per cent).

Dubai’s hotel inventory in October 2022 comprised 144,737 rooms at 790 hotel establishments compared with 122,185 rooms available at the end of October 2019 across 724 establishments. The total number of hotels in the first 10 months of 2022 saw an 8 per cent growth over the same period in 2021.

Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said: “2022 has been a transformative year for developing and broadening Dubai’s global appeal, designed to keep the destination top-of-mind and to cater to the varied needs and tastes of international travellers. With the world on the move again, our ability to quickly react, adapt, evolve and tap into existing and new segments of travellers is key to Dubai’s efforts to leverage and benefit from a rapidly and radically evolving global tourism landscape.

“We have ensured a steady influx of international visitors by offering more value than any comparable destination. We will maintain our competitive edge through our strong public-private partnerships, expansion of the diverse destination offering and constant launching of innovative initiatives and international campaigns to showcase Dubai as a ‘must-visit’ destination, as well as cement its position as one of the most accessible and liveable cities in the world.”