Dubai 'is one of the best cities to visit in 2013'

Travel experts in Australia believe that Dubai will be one of the most popular holiday destinations of 2013.The emirate is a common stopping point for Aussies who are visiting Europe, but it seems the city is now being seen as a tourism hotspot in its own right.Chief executive officer at the Australian Federation of Travel Agents Jayson Westbury told the News Limited Network that 2.5 million flights between Australia and Europe stopped in Asia in 2011.He also feels that recent agreements between prominent airlines in Australia and the UAE will be important."There's going to be so much marketing around the Emirates and Qantas tie-up encouraging people to travel via Dubai," he was quoted as saying."A lot of Australians have thought about visiting there ... the airlines are going to have lots of capacity and they're going to want to fill those seats."Emirates has been flying from Melbourne to Dubai since the mid-1990s and by March 2013 it will be providing 84 services a week.Passengers will be able to fly into the emirate from Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.Dubai Tourism's Australian director Julie King told the news provider that most Aussies stay in the city for an average of 2.5 days, but she is hopeful that this will increase in the near future.Hotel owners in the UAE have benefited hugely from the increasing number of people visiting places like Dubai.As well as the wonderful weather, Dubai is also popular because of its plethora of upmarket designer shops and entertainment facilities.It is also home to the largest retail malls on the planet.Figures recently released by Dubai Airports highlighted the immense demand for holidays in the city.The organisation stated that Dubai International Airport received a record number of passengers in 2012 and the facility was forced to operate extremely close to its maximum capacity.It has now undergone major expansion work and will be able to cater for 75 million passengers a year once the new sections are fully open.