Dubai Records 17 Million International Visitors In 2023

Dubai. (Wikimedia Commons/Pasikivi)

Dubai managed to record the number of tourist visitors last year, when one of the cities and emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continued to grow into one of the global tourist destinations.

A total of 17.15 million international tourist visitors in 2023, an increase of 19.4 percent compared to the previous record of 16.73 million viewers in 2019, according to the latest data published by the Dubai Department of Economics and Tourism.

" Dubai's ability to continue to generate new and refreshing travel and tourism experiences that serve a variety of visitors has become a key factor behind this extraordinary performance," said Dubai Crown Prince and Emirate Executive Council Chair Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, in a statement by the Dubai Media Office. February 7th.

"With several indicators that perform better than before the pandemic, this year's results mark Dubai as the focus point of growth in the global tourism landscape," he continued.

Being one of the major commercial, tourism and financial hubs in the Middle East, Dubai has maintained a strong growth momentum since rising again from a slowdown caused by the pandemic.

In 2023, Dubai welcomed a record-breaking 17 million international visitors. This remarkable growth of 19.4% firmly established Dubai as a leading destination. The city is at the forefront of the global tourism sector, with one of the world's highest hotel occupancy rates of… pic.twitter.com/wm0dTfxJEV

— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) February 7, 2024

In 2023, Dubai welcomes a recording-breaking 17 million international visitors. This remarkable growth of 19.4% firmly established Dubai as a leading destination. The city is at the forefront of the global tourism sector, with one of the world's highest hotel occupancy rates of... pic.twitter.com/wm0dTfxJEV

The emirate's economy increased by 3.3 percent per year in the first nine months of last year, driven by growth in the tourism and transportation sectors, media offices said last month.

Tourists from the Gulf and Mena areas became the most visitors by contributing 28 percent of the total, followed by Western and South Asia, respectively at 19 percent and 18 percent.

Behind it, there are tourists from Russia along with the fractional states of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe that account for 13 percent of the total visitors.

The combination of North Asia and Southeast Asia accounts for 9 percent, while America accounts for 7 percent of the total visitors who spend the night in the emirate.

Meanwhile, the average hotel occupancy rate increased to 77.4 percent last year, from 72.9 percent in the previous year and also surpassed the average hotel occupancy rate of 75.3 percent reported in 2019, according to recent data.

Hotel room supplies in the emirate grew by 19 percent compared to the 2019 rate. The number of night room residents also jumped to a record high of 41.70 million, marking an annual increase of 11 percent and a substantial increase of 30 percent from the pre-pandemic figure.

While the average daily rate in 2023 is the same as the figure in 2022 of 536 UAE dirhams (146 US dollars), while RevPar (income per available room), which is the size of hotel performance, rose 6 percent to 415 UAE dirhams.

The length of stay is 3.8 nights in 2023, an increase of 10 percent from the 2019 rate, according to data.

"With the Dubai D33 Economic Agenda strategy that will be our economic compass over the next ten years, we are committed to strengthening the tourism sector, increasing our assets and infrastructure, and stimulating wider economic growth," said Helal Al Marri, director-general of the Department of Economics and Tourism.

Dubai hotel supplies at the end of December 2023 reached 150,291 rooms with 821 hotels, compared to 146,496 rooms in the previous year in 804 hotels, according to data.