UAE to welcome 8.92 million visitors from top five source markets by 2023

Expo 2020 and its legacy, District 2020, are expected to have a long-term influence on the growth of inbound arrivals to the UAE from the country’s top five source markets between 2018 and 2023, according to data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market, set to take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 28-May 1, 2019. Looking at the country’s top three source markets, the number of Indian visitors travelling to the UAE will increase at a CAGR of 7 per cent to 3.01 million in 2023, while arrivals from Saudi Arabia and the UK will witness an increase of 2 per cent and 1 per cent to 1.76 million and 1.28 million respectively over the same period. While the UAE’s top source market rankings are expected to remain mostly unchanged post-Expo 2020 – the latest research from Colliers International, in partnership with ATM, reveals the Russian and Chinese source markets will show above average annual growth rates for inbound passenger arrivals.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director—ME, Arabian Travel Market, said, “The number of Russian tourists travelling to the UAE will increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12 per cent to 1.6 million in 2023, while the number of Chinese tourists visiting the UAE will increase at a CAGR of 8 per cent to 1.27 million over the same period, according to the data. Taking a look at the other key drivers, besides Expo 2020, Russian visitors to the UAE have grown in recent years, due to the introduction of additional and direct airline routes. According to some analysts, China’s middle-class will swell to 338 million households by 2020, a 13 per cent increase in just five years. Therefore, the growth potential for both markets is significant.”
With 20 million annual visitors expected to visit Dubai by 2020, plus an additional five million between October 2020 and April 2021, 70 per cent of which will come from outside the UAE – the overall hospitality supply in the emirate is expected to increase by 39 per cent from 59,561 keys in 2017 to 82,994 in 2021 to meet this demand.