Dubai at the forefront of global tourism sector, records 17 million entries in 2023

Dubai is officially over the pandemic. It marked a record-breaking 17 million international visits in 2023 – the best-ever year for tourism and the first year ahead of pre-pandemic numbers. Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed made an announcement on X.

He noted: “This remarkable growth of 19.4% firmly established Dubai as a leading destination. The city is at the forefront of global tourism sector, with one of the world’s highest hotel occupancy rates of 77.4% and hotel capacity expanding to over 150,000 rooms.”

The emirate managed to reach 16.73 million travellers in 2019. Before the deadly COVID-19 pandemic struck, the city had set out to hit 20 million by 2020. Dubai is yet to announce an objective for tourism in 2024.

Figures align with goals of Dubai Economic Agenda D33

The most updated information on source markets goes up to October 2023, but the rest of the year is likely to have followed similar trends. India was the top source market, followed by the UK and nearby Saudi Arabia. Russians dominated the first half of the year.

Prince Sheikh Hamdan highlighted in his tweet that the record-breaking numbers align with the objectives of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, aiming to double the size of Dubai’s economy over the next decade and consolidate its position among the top three global cities.

Speaking at the Dubai Tourism Summit presented by Skift Global Forum East 2023 in December, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Tourism Issam Kazim said Dubai would look to improve its marketing around affordability in 2024.

People don’t become ‘Dubians’, they become global citizens

Kazim added that the emirate as a destination has matured, moving away from building superlative mega-structures for the sake of image, and more towards becoming a place tourists would want to one day live, according to Skift.

He said: “There are 200 nationalities here, that’s the true magic of the city.” “People don’t become ‘Dubians’, they retain their culture and they become global citizens,” the CEO further mentioned, calling Dubai “a multinational city.”

Dubai is one of the main commercial, tourism and financial hubs of the Middle East. Its economy expanded by an annual 3.3% in the first nine months of 2023, driven by growth in the tourism and transportation sectors, the emirate’s media office said last month.

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