Dubai tourist arrivals jump 203% in 4 months, crosses 5 mn mark

Dubai, June 9

Dubai's tourism sector continues to recover fast after the Covid-19 pandemic as the Emirate recorded a massive increase in arrivals in the first four months of this year.

According to the Dubai Media Office, the number of visitors to the city reached 5.1 million during January-April 2022, registering a major increase of 203 per cent.

The increased flow of tourists helped improve hotel occupancy across the emirate, which reached 76 per cent during the period.

Dubai received almost four million international overnight visitors between January and March 2022, a huge year-on-year growth of 214 per cent. The city also ranked No.1 globally in hotel occupancy in the first quarter of 2022, with 82 per cent.

Foreign tourists' trust on the UAE and Dubai has further improved after successful handling of the pandemic and due to its status as a one of the world's safest cities. Recently, Dubai was rated the third safest city to travel for solo female travellers, thanks to a very low crime rate, according to a study by InsureMyTrip, a UK-based travel insurance company.

STR Global's preliminary data has revealed that Dubai hotels recorded occupancy and average daily rates (ADR) that exceeded the 2019 Eid-al-Fitr comparables, according to preliminary data. Similarly, Dubai's occupancy came in at 75.4 per cent during the Eid, which was 19.7 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic comparable.

Philip Wooller, STR's senior director for the Middle East and Africa, said Dubai saw rates over Dh700, which was up from Dh400 in 2019.

Talking about Travel trends of tourists to UAE, Raheesh Babu, COO, Musafir.com said: "Right now, most people coming in are part of the VFR traffic (visit friends and family). As it is school vacation time in India right now, most families are here to spend their break with family and friends here. Summer is a busy time and inbound prices are increasing up to 30-35 per cent from India to UAE, mostly because there are multiple MICE events happening in the UAE.

"July-August outbound travel to India from the UAE will pick up. We expect that the price will increase to 70-80 per cent compared to the 1st quarter as people are visiting their homes and families."