Tourism Breaking News
For the fourth successive month this year, Dubai’s tourism sector delivered a stellar performance, welcoming 6.02 million international visitors from January-April, an 18% YoY increase, compared to 5.10 million visitors during the same four-month period in 2022. Dubai’s hotel sector has also demonstrated resilience and strength, with an average occupancy of 80% during the January-April period this year, among the highest in the world, exceeding the 76% level achieved by city hotels during the corresponding period in 2022 and nearly matching the pre-pandemic 83% occupancy in 2019. According to a STR Global Hotel Monitoring Update, Dubai ranked first in occupancy, with a rate of 79.9%, only 2.9 percentage points below the pre-pandemic levels of 82.7%, placing it ahead of other global destinations like London, New York, Los Angeles and Paris. The report also revealed that Dubai ranked first in Gross Operating Profit per Available Room (GOPAR), with a rate of USD145 (AED530), just 9% below pre-pandemic levels, followed by Paris (USD 113) and Singapore (USD 102) respectively.
Hotel supply reached 148,949 rooms in 814 hotel establishments at the end of April 2023, a 26% growth over the pre-pandemic figures of 118,449 rooms in 722 hotel establishments at the end of April 2019. Moreover, the average length of stay by guests has increased by 13% to four nights compared to 3.5 nights in 2019, indicating Dubai’s appeal as a destination for longer-stay travellers. According to data from industry expert Amadeus, search and booking volumes for Dubai remained steady from September 2021 to April 2023, with searches and bookings to Dubai during January to April 2023 nearing pre-pandemic levels and especially close to the high numbers seen during the Expo and pre-World Cup 2022 period.
His Excellency Issam Kazim, CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), presented an overview of the industry and shared valuable insights into visitor trends and marketing strategies. He stressed the importance of collaboration with stakeholders and partners to ensure Dubai remains the preferred destination for global travellers and highlighted the various global campaigns that have successfully showcased the diversity of Dubai’s offering, further reinforcing its position as a must-visit destination. DET’s continuous efforts to promote Dubai across its international markets was directly responsible for driving 57% of the total visitation of 14.4 million international visitors in 2022, generating millions of prospective travellers for the future, especially an anticipated substantial increase in travellers from 2023 to 2025. These marketing activities have further influenced 11 million individuals to plan their Dubai trips and also inspired six million people to add Dubai to their ‘bucket list’ of destinations to visit between this year and 2025.
