Dubai: Dubai is on track for another record year in terms of tourist volumes, according to the latest data released by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing on Tuesday morning.
A total of 11.58 million international overnight visitors arrived in Dubai during the first nine months of 2017, reflecting a 7.5 per cent increase over the same period last year.
Dubai Tourism says that these figures underline the strength of the emirate’s tourism industry, as well as the growing appeal of Dubai as a global tourism destination of choice.
India retained top spot on Dubai’s list of source markets for inbound tourism, with 1,478,000 Indian tourists arriving in the city between January and September, registering a 20 per cent rise over the same period in 2016.
The government body says it attributes this steep rise to its promotional push with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan.
Meanwhile, China stayed in fifth place with an impressive 49 per cent year-on-year growth, delivering 573,000 visitors in the first nine months of the year and continuing to benefit from regulatory changes introduced in late 2016 granting Chinese citizens free visa-on-arrival access to the UAE.
Saudi Arabia and the UK also retained their positions as Dubai’s second- and third-largest feeder markets respectively.
A total of 1.25 million Saudis and 905,000 British travellers arrived in the emirate between January and September 2017, the former showing a slight drop compared to the first nine months of 2016, reflecting the ongoing economic challenges facing Saudi Arabia, while the UK witnessed a 2 per cent year-on-year increase.
These positive results were bucked by Oman and Kuwait, which saw declines of 23 and 3 per cent respectively.
All other top 10 feeder countries posted healthy increases in tourist traffic, including sixth-placed United States, up 6 per cent; seventh-placed Pakistan, up 4 per cent; eighth-placed Iran. up 16 per cent; and ninth-placed Germany, up 6 per cent.
From a regional perspective, the GCC emerged as the largest contributor of overnight visitor volumes, with a 21 per cent share compared to second-placed western Europe’s 20 per cent. These were closely followed by south Asia with a share of 18 per cent, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) and north and south-east Asia regions with 11 per cent each, the Americas, Russia, CIS and eastern Europe bloc with 6 per cent each, Africa with 5 per cent and Australasia with 2 per cent.
A total of 11.58 million international overnight visitors arrived in Dubai during the first nine months of 2017, reflecting a 7.5 per cent increase over the same period last year.
Dubai Tourism says that these figures underline the strength of the emirate’s tourism industry, as well as the growing appeal of Dubai as a global tourism destination of choice.
India retained top spot on Dubai’s list of source markets for inbound tourism, with 1,478,000 Indian tourists arriving in the city between January and September, registering a 20 per cent rise over the same period in 2016.
The government body says it attributes this steep rise to its promotional push with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan.
Meanwhile, China stayed in fifth place with an impressive 49 per cent year-on-year growth, delivering 573,000 visitors in the first nine months of the year and continuing to benefit from regulatory changes introduced in late 2016 granting Chinese citizens free visa-on-arrival access to the UAE.
Saudi Arabia and the UK also retained their positions as Dubai’s second- and third-largest feeder markets respectively.
A total of 1.25 million Saudis and 905,000 British travellers arrived in the emirate between January and September 2017, the former showing a slight drop compared to the first nine months of 2016, reflecting the ongoing economic challenges facing Saudi Arabia, while the UK witnessed a 2 per cent year-on-year increase.
These positive results were bucked by Oman and Kuwait, which saw declines of 23 and 3 per cent respectively.
All other top 10 feeder countries posted healthy increases in tourist traffic, including sixth-placed United States, up 6 per cent; seventh-placed Pakistan, up 4 per cent; eighth-placed Iran. up 16 per cent; and ninth-placed Germany, up 6 per cent.
From a regional perspective, the GCC emerged as the largest contributor of overnight visitor volumes, with a 21 per cent share compared to second-placed western Europe’s 20 per cent. These were closely followed by south Asia with a share of 18 per cent, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) and north and south-east Asia regions with 11 per cent each, the Americas, Russia, CIS and eastern Europe bloc with 6 per cent each, Africa with 5 per cent and Australasia with 2 per cent.
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