Dubai, which already acts as a regional connecting hub for millions of tourists and passengers, is gearing up to become one of the top three most visited destinations in the world, said Bader Ali Habib, the Head of Region and 360 Marketing Lead, South Asia at Dubai Economy and Tourism at the sidelines of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2023 in Dubai.
The mega tourism expo held at Dubai World Trade Centre from 1-4 May brought together 2,000 exhibitors and thousands of visitors from 150 countries.
This was the 30th edition of ATM that expanded both vertically and horizontally over the span of three decades.
Dubai is currently not only known for its record-breaking buildings and attractions but it was voted the world’s most popular destination for holidaymakers in TripAdvisor’s 2023 Travelers Choice Awards.
According to official data released by Dubai Economy and Tourism, the city received 14.36 million international overnight visitors in 2022, almost doubling the year-on-year number of 7.28 million tourist arrivals in 2021 when travel was restricted due to COVID-19.
The latest number shows that Dubai achieved 98% of pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2023, surpassing United Nations (UN) World Trade Organization (WTO) projections.
However, the Department of Economy and Tourism isn’t getting contented here as the Dubai government and leadership have now revealed ambitious plans of becoming one of the world’s top three cities for travel and business.
While acknowledging that destinations like Turkey, Bangkok, Bali, Singapore, etc. offer competition for tourists from the APAC region, Bader Ali Habib, is confident that Dubai is well prepared to grow its tourism market by 300% during the next seven years to attract 40 million tourists per year by 2030.
“We have set a target of reaching 40 million tourists within seven years, increasing the tourism sector’s contribution to our GDP to USD 120 billion”, expressed Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai in a tweet.
With 73% average hotel occupancy citywide, clearly, the city is up for a massive expansion in years to come.
Not to mention, total guest room inventory has risen 16% since 2019 from 126,120 rooms in 741 hotels in 2019 to 146,496 rooms in 804 hotels in 2023.
The Dubai government, aligned with its goal, is expanding the number of attractions in the city and opened a number of places in 2022 that helped enhance Dubai’s appeal as one of the world’s top leisure and business destinations.
Museum of Future, for instance, attracted over 1 million tourists during its first year of operations.
Dubai is also focusing on summits and events to expand and attract newer travelers. For instance, the six-month-long Dubai Expo 2020, held in 2022 due to COVID-19, attracted over 24 million visitors, cementing Dubai’s ability to host mega events and reinforce its position as an international event destination.
Other major events that Dubai hosted in 2022 included GulfFood, the World Government Summit, Binance Blockchain Week, Gitex, the International Boat Show, and Arabian Travel Market.
