Over 3m visitors to Dubai in first 2 months of this year

Dubai’s tourism sector reported a 12 per cent year-on-year growth in visitor numbers over the first two months of 2017, with over three million people visiting Dubai. The growth was driven by Chinese and Russian markets.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) said the 12 per cent growth rate was nearly four times the rate of 2015, and was supported by growth in all key markets.

During the first two months of 2017, Dubai saw a 60 per cent growth in overnight tourists from China, and attracted a total of 157,000 Chinese visitors. Meanwhile, Russian visitation jumped 84 per cent year-on-year, with a total of 65,000 Russian travellers in the first two months.

The figures put China in the top four source markets for Dubai’s tourism sector, and moved Russia up four places from 15th largest source market.

The growth from both markets comes after China and Russia were granted visa-on-arrival status in November 2016 and February 2017 respectively.

With the Chinese economy emerging as one of the world’s key growth markets, Dubai has stepped up its efforts even further to attract visitors from there, with a ‘China Readiness’ agenda. Dubai Tourism has taken steps, for example, to increase the number of Mandarin-speaking customer service representatives for tourism-related activities across the emirate. It has also widened acceptance of Chinese payment systems, and made Mandarin-language maps available at attractions and malls across Dubai.

“As 2017 progresses, we expect to capitalise on Dubai’s additional hotel room supply at various price points, as well as the recent openings of attractions such as IMG Worlds of Adventure, the world’s largest indoor theme park; and Dubai Parks and Resorts, the region’s largest integrated theme park resort to drive continued high performance from the sector,” Helal Al Merri, director general of Dubai Tourism, said in a statement.

He added: “While the strong performance in January and February is encouraging and to be applauded, it is important to stress that we still have much to do as we face a dynamic global environment influenced by various macro-economic and geopolitical challenges.”

Al Merri further said that Dubai will “continue to mitigate risks by pursuing a diversified source market strategy,” as the emirate works towards its target of welcoming 20 million visitors by 2020.

The growth in visitor numbers comes amid even stronger growth in the supply side as more hotels open across the UAE. A recent report from data provider STR said average room rates at hotels across the country fell 8 per cent in January 2017 compared to the same month in 2016 on the back of strong supply growth

source : gulfnews