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

“As we turn our immediate focus to the summer, we are heavily leveraging Dubai’s value offering and diversity of activities and attractions that continue to be clear visitation drivers during this period. Year-on-year we continue to see positive gains in visitors choosing Dubai for the summer, with last year seeing very robust numbers from UK and Saudi travellers specifically, which exemplify Dubai’s growing appeal as a year round destination.”

As part of a wider strategy aimed at increasing the emirate’s profile through tailored events, attractions and experiences designed to appeal to a broad range of segments, the upcoming opening of a number of theme parks including Dubai Parks and Resorts, IMG Worlds of Adventure and Dubai Safari, as well as the iconic Dubai Opera House and the theatrical residency of La Perle by Dragone at Al Habtoor City, will greatly enhance Dubai’s global appeal among families and experience seekers when they open in the second half of the year.

A major addition to the city’s tourism offering, all of these will be unique to the region and are expected to drive visitation significantly, particularly from core proximity markets. The expected increase in visitors generated by these attractions is helping to drive development within Dubai’s tourism sector as a whole, across both private and public sectors, as new hospitality, retail and entertainment offerings come on line, as well as infrastructure projects designed to enhance the visitor experience from arrival to departure.