In the first quarter of 2023, Dubai received 4.67 million foreign overnight guests, up from 3.97 million visitors in the same period of 2022. According to the most recent information provided by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), this is a 17% YoY gain and the city’s highest Q1 performance since the pandemic, putting it firmly on course to become the most popular foreign destination.
In order to solidify Dubai’s position as one of the top three cities in the world, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 in January. This growth puts the city on track for a full tourism recovery.
His Majesty “The remarkable growth in international visitation achieved by Dubai in the first quarter of 2023 demonstrates the city’s emergence as one of the key destinations leading the way in the rebound of the global tourism sector,” said Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai. This accomplishment is the result of the leadership’s expansive ambition to make Dubai the world’s leading centre for tourism, talent, entrepreneurship, and investment. Dubai is currently one of the world’s fastest-growing metropolises. His Highness just announced the Dubai Economic Agenda. Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, lays out an ambitious new course for Dubai in order to increase its contributions to determining the direction of the world economy. In addition to being one of the strongest economic foundations in our country, the tourist industry plays a crucial role in enabling Dubai’s unique position as a global link between markets, cultures, and regions. In the next years, Dubai will keep launching innovative new projects in an effort to stand out as a tourism destination and fulfil its ambition of becoming the finest city in the world to live, visit, work, and invest.
At 98% of pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2023, according to the most recent industry results, Dubai is the destination that is recovering the fastest globally, beating the UN World Trade Organization’s prediction that international tourist arrivals could reach between 80 and 95 percent of pre-pandemic levels this year, particularly in Europe and the Middle East.
A remarkable achievement since turning the tide in July 2020 by reopening the city to international tourists, and in spite of current global economic headwinds, was the number of visitors in Q1 2023, which fell just two percentage points short of the pre-pandemic volume of 4.75 million tourists that arrived in Dubai in the first three months of 2019. The sector’s achievement also marked the culmination of a stellar first quarter for Dubai, which saw the city named the top worldwide destination once more in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2023. This is just the second occasion in history that a city has received the prestigious award for two years in a row.
The Honourable “Q1 2023 has set us off on a very strong trajectory for the year and is driving us closer to realising the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the most visited and returned-to destination,” said Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism. The robust performance of the industry is confirmation of our clearly defined strategy and evidence of the unwavering support of our stakeholders and partners in the travel and tourism sector. As we put more effort into fulfilling the objectives of the Dubai Economic Agenda 2033, the next ten years will witness our sector go through unprecedented phases of transition in terms of infrastructure, technology, attractions, and experiences.
The multi-pronged strategy that helped us succeed in 2022 will be continued in order to keep Dubai’s appeal as the top travel destination in the world: evolving the destination promise, taking a multi-geographic approach to markets, constant international outreach through global campaigns, hosting international MICE, business, and leisure events, and further strengthening stakeholder relationships. The pillars of sustainability, cuisine, trade, and technology will serve as the cornerstone of our future success as we anticipate more accelerated momentum in our tourist sector. A significant milestone for us is that this year has been designated as the UAE’s “Year of Sustainability” as the nation gets ready to host COP28, the UN Climate Change Conference. As we aim to become the finest city in the world to live and work in, sustainability will be at the centre of all we do. We will integrate sustainable practises into every part of the visitor experience.
strong reversal
The effectiveness of the city’s diversified multi-geographic approach is further demonstrated by the fact that Dubai’s traditional source markets continued to have a positive influence on foreign visitors during the first quarter of the year. The top area was made up of the GCC and MENA, which contributed 29% of the overall volumes, demonstrating the city’s sustained attraction to visitors from nearby markets. South Asia accounted for 16% of all overseas visitors, followed by CIS and Eastern Europe with a combined contribution of 15%, the Americas (7%), North Asia and South East Asia (6%), Africa (4%), and Australasia (1%). Western Europe accounted for 22% of tourist arrivals.
While four regions have fully recovered and surpassed Q1 2019 levels, including MENA (32% vs. Q1-2019), the Americas (9% vs. Q1-2019, and Australasia (2% vs. 2019), the majority of regions have shown significant growth in Q1 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. In terms of tourism volume, South Asia and Western Europe are both almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
Dubai’s hotel industry is driving development
Performance at hotels in Dubai increased significantly in the first quarter of 2023. The industry’s average occupancy from January to March was a staggering 83%, ranking among the highest in the world and nearly matching the 84% occupancy seen in Q1 2019. This accomplishment is especially noteworthy in light of a 26% increase in room capacity since that time. The city’s hotel industry had a total of 148,877 rooms in 814 hotels at the end of March 2023 as opposed to 118,039 rooms in 717 hotels in 2019. The number of hotels and rooms overall increased by 6% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same time in 2022 thanks to continued local and foreign investment in the industry.
All other hospitality measures for the hotel industry performed better than they did before the outbreak. The total number of Occupied Room Nights given by Dubai hotels during the first three months of the year was 10.98 million, a 27% rise YoY and a 7% increase compared to the 8.63 million Occupied Room Nights recorded during the pre-pandemic period of Q1 2019. ADR for the first three months of the year increased by 22% to AED607 from AED498 in 2019, while RevPAR for the same time increased by 21% to AED504 from AED417 in the pre-pandemic period of 2019. The average length of stay by tourists grew to four nights from 3.5 nights, a 14% rise over the same time in 2019, underscoring the city’s allure for longer-stay visitors and demonstrating the hotel industry’s strong performance.
Excellent Sir, “Inspired by our visionary leadership, we have made tremendous strides in our efforts to position the city as a must-visit destination through celebrity-led and digital first global campaigns in parallel with initiatives that increase accessibility, reduce barriers to travel, and make it as easy as possible for travellers to visit Dubai,” said Issam Kazim, CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing. We sincerely appreciate the unwavering support from all of our partners and stakeholders who work tirelessly to maintain our city’s standing as a premier tourism destination on a worldwide scale. Their dedication to our common goal is essential to upholding our city’s reputation abroad and ensuring a consistent stream of foreign tourists. We will keep collaborating with them to create fresh and distinctive tourist goods and experiences that will increase the allure of our city as the top option for both new and returning business and leisure visitors. We are doing everything we can to guarantee Dubai does even better in 2023 and beyond to remain at the forefront of a very competitive global tourism scene as the expectations of visitors are changing dramatically throughout the world.
leading sustainability-related projects
Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) is intensifying its pursuit of unconventional tourism channels to draw tourists in an effort to strengthen its existing and rising markets as well as unearth new chances for growth both in the domestic and international markets. This plan is especially important since the pillars of sustainability, cuisine, trade, and technology will be key to the success of Dubai’s tourist strategy.
Sustainability is becoming more significant as an opportunity and a driving factor for growth as Dubai moves towards a more sophisticated, inclusive, long-term strategy to sustainable growth. This is because more and more tourists are looking for sustainable places. Sustainability is a crucial part of Dubai’s development strategy, and hosting international gatherings like COP28 will present a unique chance to highlight the Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) initiative, which aims to improve the sustainability of the tourism sector and support more general goals for clean energy and sustainable development. DST will also equip Dubai to provide international tourists looking for genuine regional experiences that support sustainable lifestyles. The Dubai Can campaign, which promotes the use of reusable bottles, is a significant DST project. Since the project’s debut in February 2022, it has effectively decreased the usage of single-use plastic water bottles by more than 7 million in just one year.
As Dubai propels growth in the hotel and food and beverage industries, DET will continue to strengthen its Gastronomy Always on Campaign while putting an emphasis on the four pillars of diversity, value for money, authenticity, and experience. In addition, the city’s investment in infrastructure and entrepreneurial support systems has made it a highly sought-after location for start-ups, international talent, and entrepreneurs.
Dubai is dedicated to consistently providing new and different experiences for discriminating international passengers, with the help of its stakeholders and partners. The Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, which includes over 100% expansion of tourism attractions, new investment opportunities, and an increase in the variety of activities and experiences for both residents and visitors, will be a major driving force behind these initiatives. Additionally, Dubai will keep showcasing its products in a number of niches, such as ecotourism, culinary tourism, wellness tourism, cruise tourism, sports tourism, and destination weddings.
Dubai hosted a diverse lineup of events in the first quarter of 2023, utilising its status as a global events destination to increase attendance at its MICE, business, and leisure events. These events included the Dubai Shopping Festival, the city’s annual flagship festival, Art Dubai, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, Dubai Duty Free Tennis, the Dubai World Cup, the Dubai International Boat Show, the World Government Summit, as well as Gulfood, the largest food festival in the world. In addition to COP28, this year’s family summer spectacular, Dubai Summer Surprises, Dubai Esports and Games Festival, and Dubai Fitness Challenge are all expected to increase Dubai’s profile around the world.
Dubai will also keep offering alternative growth paths made possible by regulatory changes and visa initiatives like the Golden Visa, 5-year Multi Entry Visa, Virtual Working, and Retire in Dubai programmes that have lowered entry barriers, encouraged long-term ties to the city, and strengthened its standing as a liveability hub for the world. Dubai, which is home to more than 200 nationalities, offers parents a variety of top-notch educational options for their children thanks to the establishment of campuses by several prestigious international institutions. The pro-business climate in Dubai has been improved by these actions, making it a desirable location for multinational corporations, family offices, international talent, entrepreneurs, inventors, and investors.
Source: breakingtravelnews