Dubai on track to set new tourism benchmark in 2023
After spearheading the post-pandemic global tourism recovery in 2022, Dubai’s tourism sector has carried its impressive momentum into 2023, with the city welcoming more than 3 million visitors in the first two months of the year, marking a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 42%.
While the result fell just short of the 3.14 million visitors reported in January-February 2019 – a year that went on to set a new record for overall international arrivals – it does place Dubai well on track to match or eclipse this achievement in 2023. It also means the emirate is making rapid progress in reaching its goal of welcoming 25 million international visitors annually by 2030.
India named top source market
In terms of key source markets, India once again ranked first with 401,000 visitor arrivals, up 130% compared with the 174,000 arrivals reported in 2022 and up 4% compared with 2019. Russia proved one of the biggest movers, ranking second overall with 229,000 visitors (+67% YoY), while Oman snared third place with 201,000 arrivals (+106% YoY).
Rounding out the top five source markets were the United Kingdom with 196,000 visitors (+18% YoY) and Saudi Arabia with 183,000 visitors. Israel was the fastest-growing source market overall, with 85,000 visitors, marking a YoY increase of 212%, followed by China with 52,000 visitors (+176% YoY).
Hotel sector makes rapid gains
Dubai’s hotel sector has also carried its 2022 momentum into 2023, with the sector reporting strong gains across all major performance indices. In February, the citywide average occupancy rate hit 84% – the highest level for this month since 2019 – while occupied room nights reached 7.28 million, up 16% YoY and 28% compared with 2019.
Meanwhile, revenue per available room (RevPAR) hit US$140, marking a rise of 6% YoY and 19% over 2019, while the average daily rate (ADR) reported the same percentile increase compared with 2019, hitting $166.
Dubai leads the world for speed of post-pandemic recovery
While Dubai’s tourism performance ranked among the best in the world in early 2023, the trend really began in 2022, when the city helped spearhead the regional and international tourism sectors’ recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer report, more than 900 million tourists travelled internationally in 2022, just 63% of the number who travelled in 2019. By comparison, Dubai welcomed 14.36 million travellers in 2022, which was equivalent to 85.5 per cent of 2019’s 16.79 million visitors.
Dubai’s global leadership is even more apparent when comparing the city’s 2022 performance with other major global destinations. On a regional basis, Europe – which was officially recognised as the most popular destination in 2022 – achieved 80% of its pre-pandemic level, while Africa recorded 65 per cent and Asia Pacific just 23 per cent.
Dubai also led the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which reported the strongest relative increase in visitor numbers worldwide in 2022, with the number of arrivals reaching 83% of 2019 levels, thanks to mega events such as Expo 2020 Dubai.
Looking ahead, while the UNWTO forecasts international tourist arrivals to reach 80%-95% of 2019 levels this year, Dubai is well placed to eclipse its pre-pandemic performance in 2023 and once again spearhead tourism growth across the region.