Dubai witnesses 32 pc growth in international overnight visitors in 2021; welcomes 7.28 million travellers

Dubai welcomed 7.28 million international overnight visitors in 2021, including 910,000 from India, representing 32 per cent year-on-year growth, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) said on Friday. The key international markets of Dubai regained momentum with positive performances led by its number one source market India with 910,000 visitors, followed by 491,000 travellers from Saudi Arabia while Russia and the UK contributed 444,000 and 420,000 visitors, respectively, DET said in a statement.

According to the data, international visitation to Dubai surpassed 3.4 million visitors in the fourth quarter of 2021, which is 74 per cent of the total pre-pandemic tourist arrivals of the fourth quarter in 2019.

This paved the way for hotels in Dubai to deliver a stellar fourth quarter performance that surpassed pre-pandemic levels, it noted.

For the first time, the hotel sector outperformed pre-pandemic levels across all measurements in the fourth quarter of 2021, including over 81.4 per cent occupancy compared to 80.7 per cent during the same period in 2019, DET stated.

“Dubai’s success in 2021 is testament to the carefully calibrated strategy and decisive measures that were put in place at the outset to counter and manage the pandemic across all sectors including trade and tourism.” DET Director General Helal Saeed Al Marri said.

“As we move forward throughout 2022, we are confident that the significant momentum now gathered will accelerate even further to continue to attract not just tourists but also investors, entrepreneurs and innovators to Dubai, enabling them to enjoy and avail themselves of all that our multi -faceted city has to offer,” he added.