DUBAI: Dubai welcomed a record number of overnight tourists during the first half of this year, boosted by the emirate’s decision to grant visa-on-arrival privileges to Chinese and Russian visitors.
Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing said visitor arrivals reached 8.06 million, 10.6 percent higher than last year, as tourists from India breached the million mark for the first time over the six-month period.
India, Saudi Arabia and the UK comprised the bulk of visitors to Dubai during the first half.
The number of tourists from China rose a hefty 55 percent to 413,000 while guests from Russia almost doubled to 233,000. Chinese visitors were granted visa on arrival starting in November, while Russian tourists received the same privilege in February.
“Our strategic investments, innovative destination promotion programs, responsive federal policy reforms, and long-term global partnerships are evidently paying dividends as we ramp up efforts to increase Dubai’s accessibility, visibility and overall appeal, minimize barriers to travel, and ultimately drive both first-time and repeat visitation,” said Helal Almarri, director general of Dubai Tourism.
Over 8 million international overnight tourists arrived in #Dubai during H1 2017; a 10.6% increase over the same period from last year pic.twitter.com/5FQrCsO1yu
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 30, 2017
From a regional perspective, Western Europe accounted for 21 percent of the overnight visitor numbers while the GCC contributed 19 percent.
North and Southeast Asia as well as the Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe bloc — which both registered 2 percent gains over the past year — had 11 percent and 7 percent share, respectively, in the first visitor arrivals.
Meanwhile, Dubai’s hotel room inventory increased 5 percent to 104,138 from 676 establishments at the end of June, compared with the same time last year.
Average hotel and hotel apartment occupancy was at 79 percent, one percentage point higher than the end of June 2016.
