Team Blitz India
Dubai is fast emerging as the No.1 destination for world travellers. Dubai achieved a record, surpassing the number of tourist arrivals the previous year, attracting 17.15 million international overnight visitors and growing 19.4 per cent YoY from the 14.36 million tourist arrivals in 2022, according to the latest data published by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).
The emirate has now surpassed its pre-pandemic visitation of 16.73 million (in 2019). In 2022, the growth registered 97 per cent YoY over the 7.28 million tourist arrivals in 2021, data published earlier by DET showed.
The growth aligns with the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 launched just over a year ago by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, to further consolidate Dubai’s position as one of the top three global cities for business and leisure, and the best city to visit, live and work in, added news agency WAM.
Dubai was ranked at the top among global destinations in Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2024 winners. Travelers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best winners are destinations whose hotels, restaurants and things to do received a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the website’s community for the last 12-month period.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), international tourism ended 2023 at 88 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, with an estimated 1.3 billion international arrivals. The unleashing of remaining pentup demand, increased air connectivity, and a stronger recovery of Asian markets and destinations, are expected to underpin a full recovery by the end of 2024, it said.
The Middle East continued to lead the recovery by region in relative terms, with arrivals 22 per cent above 2019, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, which provides a comprehensive overview of the sector’s performance in 2023, tracking recovery by global region, sub-region and destination.
It remained the only world region to surpass the pre-pandemic 2019 levels this period, it added.
Visa facilitation measures, the development of new destinations, investments in new tourism-related projects and the hosting of large events, are attributed to helping underpin this remarkable performance.