Dubai: Dubai’s tourism industry closed a successful decade at the end of 2019, welcoming an all-time high 16.73 million international overnight visitors, an impressive 5.1 per cent increase in tourism volumes, definitively surpassing the global tourism growth forecast by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) by over one per cent.
Dubai’s top six source markets were India, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), United Kingdom (UK), Oman, China and Russia — delivering over seven million visitors in 2019, with 9 of the top 10 countries crossing half a million visitors each for the first time, highlighting the robust diversity of Dubai’s base for tourist attraction.
Results reveal India once again retains its No. 1 market status, drawing the highest visitation with nearly two million visitors, while 1.2 million British travellers visiting the city in 2019.
Helal Saeed Al Merri, Director-General, Dubai Tourism concluded: “In 2019, we developed and deployed a custom-market specific approach to our global outreach programmes to gain greater access in our target markets and widen the sphere of influence and engagement with the Dubai proposition.”
