During the first nine months of this year, the Emirate of Dubai received more than 12.08 million international visitors, an increase of 4.3% compared to the same period last year, according to the latest statistics issued by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing «Dubai Tourism», with continuing to rise The number of visitors from major and emerging markets, which has a positive impact on the GDP of the Emirate of Dubai, and a direct contribution to the consolidation of its position among the major global tourism destinations.

In September, Dubai received more than 1.230 million visitors, an increase of 7.3% compared to the same month last year, and ranked in the fourth month among the most visited cities in the world for the fifth consecutive year, according to the index. MasterCard for global cities to visit in 2019, confirms Dubai continues to lead the most important global destinations by upgrading its competitive advantages.

Promotions

Dubai Tourism continues its year-round promotional campaigns to attract more visitors from major markets such as India, Saudi Arabia, Britain and Oman, as well as China, the world's largest source of visitors. The first nine months of 2019, five million visitors.

India has maintained its top position in the list of major markets with more than 1.39 million visitors in the first nine months of this year.

Saudi Arabia has grown 2% with Dubai receiving 1.25 million Saudi visitors in the past nine months.

The UK maintained its third position in the main markets with 851,000 visitors.

Annual increase

The Sultanate of Oman has maintained its top position in the list of the best performing markets, achieving a significant annual increase of 28% with Dubai receiving more than 778 thousand visitors, and came in fourth place on the list of main markets exporting visitors to Dubai.

Dubai continues to attract visitors from China in large numbers, as China ranked fifth in the main markets, and increased by 14%, with 729 thousand visitors, during the first nine months of 2019.

In the first nine months of 2019, the United States recorded a 1% increase, with Russia ranked sixth and seventh, with 481,433,000 visitors, respectively.

In its endeavor to become the first family destination for travelers from around the world, Dubai has focused on the family category in Russia, with a four-point increase to 34% in the first nine months of this year. With regard to the top 10 export markets to Dubai, Germany and Pakistan maintained eighth and ninth positions, with 392,378,000 visitors, respectively.

The Philippines, one of the fastest growing markets, is among the top 10, with a 29% increase in the number of visitors to 352,000.

Visitor height

The GCC region has strengthened its position by growing its share of visitors to 20%, tying with Western Europe. The French market saw a 10% increase in visitors, two places ahead, while the Italian market grew by 4%, contributing to the increase in the total number of visitors from Western Europe supported by the increase in visitors from Britain and Germany. The South Asian region also emerged among the major exporting markets to Dubai, with 16% of the visitors, followed by North and Southeast Asia with 12% and China.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region maintained a steady growth rate of 10%, with Egypt advancing one place to 13th with a growth rate of 9%. The region of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Eastern Europe and Russia grew by 8%, and Kazakhstan emerged among the top 20 emerging market visitors for the first time with 24% growth.

The Americas and Africa contributed 6% each to international visitors to Dubai. The African presence was boosted by the huge numbers recorded by the Nigerian market as one of the fastest growing emerging markets by 34%, and the market share for the region of Australia 2%.

Hilal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “Dubai's ranking as the fourth most visited city in the world reflects the continued growth achieved during the first nine months of this year, in light of the ambitious vision to enhance Dubai's ranking to become more Cities visit globally, furthering the goals of the 2022-2025 tourism strategy ».

“With Expo 2020 approaching, we will be keen to increase the number of visitors by continuing to diversify the city's tourism potential. We will also continue to focus on attracting visitors from major and emerging markets to ensure that Dubai remains at the forefront of global travel destinations. ”

Hospitality sector

Dubai's hospitality sector continues to grow, offering more choice to visitors. During the third quarter of this year, several hotels were opened including Five Hotel Jumeirah Village, Vida Creek Harbor Hotel and Millennium Hotel Al Barsha. The sector benefited from the projects that entered the market, bringing the number of hotel establishments in Dubai by the end of September last year to 716 establishments providing 119 thousand and 779 rooms, an increase of 7% compared with the same period last year. The occupancy rate of hotels is about 73%, which is one of the highest rates in the world, and these facilities provided 23.12 million hotel nights over the past nine months.