Number of tourists to Dubai rose 5.1% in the first quarter of 2016

“Markets within the four hour flight path, specifically the GCC and India, remain a critical focus for our on-going visitation attraction efforts as build towards our growth targets. With an expanded festivals and events calendar taking off extremely well in the first three months and the opening of a number of new retail destinations and attractions, we are constantly evolving our propositions to ensure that our markets have more reasons to return time and time again. This is only expected to increase in prevalence throughout the year as a number of flagship projects and initiatives come on line, adding more depth and diversity to the Dubai offering.”

Other key countries in Dubai’s top 10 source markets for the first quarter included the USA, which delivered 166,000 visitors; China, which was up by 4%; and Iran, which was the only market to see a decline. Rounding out the top 20, the Philippines saw 25% quarterly growth over the same period in 2015, Canadian visitors increased by 9%, countering declines across Egypt, Russia, Jordan, Australia and the Netherlands.

Dubai got off to an active start in 2016 with a host of projects, initiatives and events spearheading the destination’s visitation attraction programme. January and February saw more additions to Dubai’s annual festival calendar, following a reinvigorated Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Food Festival, along with the launch of the XYoga Festival Dubai.

Beautification projects at along the beaches, coastline, parks and green spaces, including the 14km-long Jumeirah Corniche; and development of Dubai’s cultural and heritage attractions, led by the regeneration of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods as part of the Dubai Historical District were among the key projects that gained momentum in the first quarter.

In tandem, Dubai’s retail landscape continues to evolve, with numerous new shopping areas and international brands, such as City Walk 2, Box Park and The Beach complex in Jumeirah Beach Residence, adding to Dubai’s already strong offering made up of over 95 malls as well as traditional Arabian souks. With close to 400,000 square metres of additional retail space scheduled to be completed in 2016 across Dubai, other major retail developments include the 1.9 million square Dragon Mart 2 extension as well as the upcoming Outlet Village which will feature alongside a number of theme parks opening and Dubai Mall – Phase 2, ensuring that tourism’s contribution to the economy is further amplified.

Dubai’s accommodation portfolio also saw growth with 676 establishments in operation as of March 2016, representing 98,949 rooms across all hotel and hotel apartment categories. New hotel openings, such as the Palazzo Versace and The St Regis Dubai, ensure the city maintains its reputation for luxury, while a host of new mid-market hotels – encouraged by Dubai Tourism-led incentives – are expanding options available to visitors.

Furthermore, Dubai Tourism continued to work across the travel and trade ecosystems, leveraging co-operative partnerships with key partners and players, including the signing of strategic partnerships in February with two of China’s biggest industry players, Union Pay International and Tuniu, one of the country’s largest online leisure travel service platforms.

His Excellency added: “Tourism-related infrastructure and capacity enhancement investment is expected to accelerate during 2016 through more segment-specific offerings such as culture and heritage attractions and family-oriented theme parks, in addition to continued focus on enhancing the business environment that underscores Dubai’s pursuit of becoming the number one destination for travel, business and events. Dubai will be steadily implementing projects to develop, enhance and promote the core pillars of Dubai’s destination offering that in turn feed into the agenda to not just attract more volumes but to further the sector’s growing contribution to the emirate’s GDP, and be a source of sustainable competitiveness for future growth.