More than a million tourists visited Dubai in July, data showed, as the emirate remained on track to overtake pre-pandemic tourism levels.
Dubai received 8.1 million tourists in the first seven months of 2022, a 184 per cent jump compared to the same period a year ago. The emirate had welcomed 7.12 million international overnight visitors in the first six months of 2022.
Tourist numbers during January-July 2021 stood at 2.85 million, and at 9.58 million in the first seven months of 2019.
Hotel occupancy during the seven-month period stood at 72 per cent of 141,000 rooms available, data showed, closely on the heels of 74 per cent in 2019, even as the emirate witnessed a 19 per cent jump in the number of available rooms in 2022 year-to-date compared to 2019 levels.
During the January to July period, the emirate saw 21.13 million occupied hotel nights, a 17 per cent jump compared to 2019 levels, and a 29 per cent climb over 2021.
The average length of stay was 4.1 nights, significantly higher than 3.4 nights in 2019.
The GCC region contributed 23 per cent of the tourist numbers, followed by 21 per cent in Western Europe, South Asia (16 per cent) and MENA (12 per cent).
The wide geographic spread reflects Dubai’s diversified strategy aimed at driving traffic from a broad spectrum of countries and visitor segments, mitigating the risks associated with over-reliance on any one region, and underscoring the success of destination marketing campaigns delivering customised messaging across specialised audience-specific platforms.
India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Russia were among the top five tourist source countries, data from Department of Economy and Tourism showed.
The data demonstrates Dubai’s enduring appeal as a must-visit destination, further validating Dubai’s ranking as the No.1 global destination in Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2022. It also remains one of the most sought-after cities for international travel, business and events at a time when the majority of global destinations have reopened for tourism.
The highly encouraging industry performance is primarily attributed to the hugely successful six-month long Expo 2020 Dubai, which attracted over 24 million visits by the time it concluded on March 31 this year. A host of festivals, leisure and business events, including the Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Food Festival, Gulfood, and the Dubai World Cup. The World Government Summit, Binance Blockchain Week, Dubai Desert Classic, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, Gulfood, Dubai International Boat Show and the Arabian Travel Market also contributed to the growth.
