The tourism sector in Dubai achieved a remarkable growth of 5.1% in 2019, as the emirate welcomed more than 16.73 million international visitors, compared to the same period in 2018, exceeding the rate of global tourism growth expected by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) By more than 1%.

The city maintained its fourth position as the most visited global city for the fifth year in a row, according to the «MasterCard World Cities Index to visit for the year 2019», and it has gained wide reputation as a favorite to visit to various segments of new international travelers.

The tourism sector is one of the main drivers of economic growth, which is evident through its contribution to the GDP of the Dubai economy by 11.5%, which makes the emirate among the top 10 cities in the world in terms of the contribution of tourism to GDP, according to the "Cities Report 2019" Issued by the World Travel and Tourism Council, which ranked Dubai third in terms of international visitors spending, totaling $ 27.9 billion.

A favorite

The general manager of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai, Hilal Saeed Al-Murri, said that the positive results and strong performance of our main and emerging markets contributed to enhancing Dubai's position and a favorite destination for international travelers, in line with the Dubai tourism strategy, and the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum , Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, aiming to make the emirate the first and preferred destination globally and the most attractive to visitors and repeat visits.

Al-Marri added: “We developed and adopted an innovative way of working in our marketing campaigns during 2019, focused on identifying the specific needs of the target markets, to ensure greater interaction with the offers that the Emirate of Dubai offers to its visitors. We are committed to achieving great results in terms of attracting more international visitors, and encouraging repeat visits by continuing our strategic investments, our innovative promotional campaigns and long-term global partnerships, benefiting from federal decisions, and great support from our partners in the public and private sectors. ”

6 major markets

The data shows a significant growth in the number of visitors through the six major markets of Dubai: India, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Oman, China and Russia, which all exported more than seven million visitors in 2019.

Nine of the 10 major markets achieved significant results for the first time, and each exported more than half a million visitors. India maintained its first position with two million boat visitors, followed by Saudi Arabia, which recorded about 1.6 million visitors, and the increase rate during the Saudi National Day celebrations increased by 36% compared to the same period of the previous year.

The number of visitors from the United Kingdom reached 1.2 million Britons, at a time when Oman achieved a remarkable annual increase of 24.3%, with Dubai receiving more than one million visitors. The number of Omani visitors increased during the Eid Al-Adha holidays by 47% and by 25% during the celebrations of the Omani National Day, compared to the same periods in 2018.

China ranked fifth, with 989,000 visitors, a growth of 15.5% year-on-year, and its market is expected to exceed the barrier of one million visitors to Dubai in 2020.

The number of visitors from Russia reached 728 thousand visitors with a growth rate of 7.4%, followed by the United States with 667 thousand visitors and an increase of 2%, while Germany contributed about 560 thousand visitors to come in eighth.

Pakistan ranked ninth with 501,000 visitors, while the Philippines continued its strong performance with a remarkable increase of 23.2% with 477,000 visitors, and maintained its position as one of the fastest growing markets.

Nigeria Market

The Nigeria market continued its strong performance by reaching 17th place with a number of visitors amounting to 246 thousand and an increase of 33%, which is the highest growth rate recorded for a market for visitors to Dubai in 2019, while the number of visitors from France reached 382 thousand, and from Egypt 314 thousand, and from Italy 247 thousand. In turn, Kazakhstan leads, for the first time, growth in the CIS region by 23% to enter the list of top 20 markets with 147 thousand visitors.

3.4 million visitors from Western Europe

Western Europe has emerged as the largest contributor to the number of visitors for one night in 2019, with a share of 3.4 million visitors, accounting for 20% of the total number of visitors.

The GCC region recorded about three million visitors, and the South Asia region 2.7 million visitors, registering 18 and 16%, respectively, of the total number of international visitors to Dubai.

The region of Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia recorded 12%, while the Middle East and North Africa region accounted for 10%.

The percentage of visitors from the markets of Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe reached 9%, collectively providing 1.6 million visitors, followed by the Americas and Africa with 6% each, while the Australasian region registered 2% of the market share.