Dubai welcomed 9.31 million worldwide in a single day guests from January to June 2024, a 9 p.c enhance over the 8.55 million vacationer arrivals within the first half of 2023, in keeping with knowledge printed by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).
Following a landmark 2023, when town hosted 17.15 million worldwide in a single day guests, Dubai has continued to maintain its sturdy tourism momentum. The progress within the first six months of this yr places town on monitor for a report efficiency in 2024.
Guided by the visionary management of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and pushed by DET’s efforts in collaboration with stakeholders, the rise in worldwide visitation aligns with the formidable aim of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to additional consolidate Dubai’s place as a number one world vacation spot for enterprise and leisure.
H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, mentioned, “Guided by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s strategic vision, Dubai’s tourism sector continues to demonstrate its robust growth potential and attractive proposition for global travellers. With its sustained growth, Dubai is setting the standard for cities worldwide, in line with the objective of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to establish Dubai as one of the world’s top urban economies. His Highness urged all industry stakeholders to expand partnerships with key markets, explore new opportunities and work to enhance Dubai’s value offering by creating rich and memorable experiences.”
“The strong tourism growth achieved by Dubai in the first half of 2024 is testament to the city’s ability to foster productive public-private partnerships and build extensive global networks of collaboration. With every year, Dubai continues to consolidate its status as a frontrunner in the global tourism landscape and grow in popularity as an international destination. We remain committed to maintaining this successful trajectory and boosting the tourism sector’s contribution to Dubai’s GDP. By further developing our infrastructure and providing exceptional services for visitors, we aim to set new benchmarks and records in 2024,” Sheikh Hamdan added.
Global accolades and trade occasions
The rise in worldwide visitation throughout H1 2024 is the results of citywide methods established throughout key tourism pillars, created and carried out in partnership with stakeholders throughout the private and non-private sectors. Beyond the expansion demonstrated by way of the efficiency, these efforts additionally yielded worldwide recognition.
Starting 2024 on a excessive notice, Dubai was named the No.1 world vacation spot for an unprecedented third successive yr within the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards in January, making it the primary metropolis to realize this distinctive accolade. The first half of the yr additionally noticed Dubai named the Middle East’s main vacation spot by the World Travel Awards, whereas Dubai International Airport and Mina Rashid had been named the Middle East’s main airport and main cruise port for 2024 respectively.
Helal Saeed Almarri, Director-General of DET, mentioned, “The significant increase in visitation numbers in the first half of 2024 reflects the vision and leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and aligns with the D33 Agenda’s objective to make Dubai the world’s best city to visit, live, and work in. This robust performance, reinforced by global recognition, validates the ambition and agility driving Dubai’s tourism and wider economy. Our success stems from a diversified market approach, strong public-private partnerships, liberal visa policies, and alternative growth pathways, all catalysts for the continued surge in both leisure and business visitation, along with increasing levels of investment and inflows of global talent. Looking ahead, we are committed to sustaining and building upon this trajectory, leveraging diverse source markets to enhance tourism’s contribution to Dubai’s GDP.”
Key supply markets
In collaboration with home stakeholders and greater than 3,000 world companions in 80 markets, DET’s focused campaigns resulted in Dubai reaching spectacular progress in key markets within the first half of 2024. With bespoke methods and actions highlighting town’s distinctive providing, dynamic enchantment and connectivity, Dubai has maintained its place as a first-choice journey vacation spot for guests each from key conventional and rising markets.
From January to June 2024, proximity markets in GCC and MENA had a mixed 26 p.c share of general guests, with 1.27 million (14 p.c) and 1.09 million (12 p.c) arrivals respectively. Western Europe accounted for 20 p.c of tourists to Dubai, with 1.89 million in whole. South Asia was one other main supply market, with 1.62 million guests (17 p.c), as was CIS and Eastern Europe with 1.37 million (15 p.c). North-East and South-East Asia grew from an 8 p.c share initially of the yr to a ten p.c share (896,000) of whole guests by the tip of H1 2024, pushed by sturdy restoration from China. Other areas additionally noticed an increase in visitation to Dubai, together with the Americas with 617,000 (7 p.c), Africa with 404,000 (4 p.c) and Australasia with 154,000 (2 p.c).
Hotels and hospitality
World-class lodges and lodging proceed to be one of many core pillars of Dubai’s vacation spot providing. Adding to town’s enchantment for world guests, the primary half of the yr noticed various high-profile openings together with: The Lana, Dorchester Collection’s first Middle East property; SIRO One Za’abeel, Dubai’s first health resort; and Hilton Dubai Creek Hotel & Residences. The metropolis’s lodging portfolio will proceed to develop with new openings deliberate all through the remainder of the yr, as a part of a strategic method to increasing stock to satisfy demand and guarantee Dubai provides guests a variety of choices throughout completely different classes and worth factors.
According to DET’s newest knowledge, the emirate’s resort sector continued to carry out nicely throughout all hospitality metrics from January to June, together with occupancy, common every day price (ADR), income per obtainable room (RevPAR), and visitors’ size of keep. Among the very best on this planet, Dubai lodges’ common occupancy of 78.7 p.c is a slight 1.0 share level increased than the 77.7 p.c occupancy achieved for a similar interval in 2023.
Occupied room nights elevated by 3 p.c, with 21.35 million on the finish of H1 2024, in comparison with 20.73 million in H1 2023. ADR rose to AED558 throughout H1, a rise of 4 p.c in comparison with the identical interval in 2023, whereas RevPAR elevated by 6 p.c in comparison with final yr, from AED415 to AED439. Meanwhile, whole obtainable rooms in Dubai reached 150,879 by the tip of June 2024, in comparison with 148,689 rooms in June 2023, with the variety of institutions standing at 823, up from 810 on the similar level final yr.
Issam Kazim, CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), mentioned: “Inspired by town’s visionary management and guided by the goals of the D33 Agenda, Dubai has continued to remain forward of the curve by additional elevating requirements with modern and distinctive world-class infrastructure, experiences and sights.
An distinctive high quality of life, security, and accessibility have been persistently recognised throughout a number of world indices and we’re dedicated to leveraging partnerships between the private and non-private sectors to showcase Dubai as a must-visit vacation spot. The unwavering assist of our companions and stakeholders can be essential in driving our sturdy world and market-specific campaigns this summer time, as we glance to construct on this optimistic progress all through the remainder of 2024.”
Partnerships, collaborations and campaigns
In collaboration with its stakeholders and companions, DET continues to create new progress pathways past conventional tourism, by way of funding, entrepreneurship, and attracting world expertise, making certain town stays a hub of creativity, innovation, and technological development. Global campaigns and partnerships additionally proceed to be a key focus for town, with ongoing initiatives together with ‘Where will Dubai take you now?’, a music-led promotion by The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey which takes viewers to each nook of the emirate, and the ‘Drop by Dubai’ programme, which promotes Dubai as the right stopover vacation spot.
Among the foremost sights to open within the first half of the yr was Real Madrid World at Dubai Parks and Resorts, the primary theme park on this planet to be working beneath the branding of the famed Spanish soccer membership. The opening aligns with wider collaborative efforts between the membership and Dubai, together with a multi-year settlement signed between DET and Real Madrid in October 2023.
Dubai has additionally established ongoing partnerships with main names within the music and leisure fields, together with Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer, who has develop into a vocal supporter of the emirate. Meanwhile, within the realm of gastronomy, Dubai had its personal 50-minute episode on season seven of Somebody Feed Phil, a meals journey present on Netflix the place Phil Rosenthal excursions eating places throughout main world cities.
A worldwide culinary and cruise hub
Dubai’s place as a world gastronomy capital was additional bolstered after the third version of the MICHELIN Guide Dubai was unveiled in July. The information featured 106 eating places, up from 90 in 2023, together with 4 that had been awarded two stars, 15 with one star, three with a inexperienced star, 18 Bib Gourmands, and 69 MICHELIN-selected eating places. On the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 listing, Trèsind Studio was ranked at No.13 and named the perfect restaurant within the Middle East, whereas Orfali Bros Bistro was ranked at No.64 on the prolonged listing. Dubai can be positioned at No.9 on Time Out’s 2024 rating of ‘the world’s 20 greatest cities for meals proper now’.
The ongoing enlargement of the cruise sector can be seeing vital advantages for Dubai, and within the 2023/2024 winter season from October to April the emirate welcomed greater than 132 ship calls between Mina Rashid and Dubai Harbour. In March at ITB in Berlin, Dubai joined forces with different regional maritime and tourism authorities to formalise the strategic Cruise Arabia alliance, to advertise the Arabian Gulf as a cruise ship vacation spot globally.
International occasions vacation spot
Dubai’s standing as a worldwide leisure hub is bolstered by a year-round calendar of enterprise, leisure and sporting occasions, which proceed to draw worldwide vacationers. Organised by Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), a few of Dubai’s greatest annual occasions had been held through the first half of the yr, together with Dubai Shopping Festival, Chinese New Year, Ramadan in Dubai, Eid in Dubai, the Great Online Sale, and Dubai Food Festival.
The ongoing Dubai Summer Surprises is one among Dubai’s main purchasing and leisure occasions which makes town as energetic and vibrant in the summertime season as it’s throughout all different occasions of the yr, additional reinforcing Dubai’s place as a number one summer time vacation spot for households. Upcoming occasions all through the remainder of 2024 embody Dubai Fashion Season Fall/Winter, Dubai Fitness Challenge, and UAE Union Day.
Business occasions additionally performed a important function – each by way of the foremost homegrown commerce reveals town hosts yearly, in addition to the conferences and conferences delivered to town on account of bidding exercise pushed by Dubai Business Events, a part of DET and town’s official conference bureau. So far this yr, Dubai has hosted various main trade exhibitions and reveals which have attracted hundreds of tourists and exhibitors, together with Gulfood (150,000 attendees), Arabian Travel Market (46,000 attendees), and the landmark thirtieth Dubai International Boat Show (greater than 1,000 manufacturers and 200 boats).
Inclusivity and accessibility
In pursuing the targets of the D33 Agenda, Dubai is dedicated to enhancing the standard of life for People of Determination. Major sights like Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall and Jumeirah Beach have complete accessibility measures for bodily and hidden disabilities like devoted areas, ramps, elevators, provision of listening to loops and resizable menus.
In April, it was introduced that Dubai is on report tempo in direction of changing into a Certified Autism Destination™, with efforts throughout town, pushed by DET, placing it firmly on monitor to changing into the primary Certified Autism Destination™ within the Eastern Hemisphere. Attractions comparable to Dubai Aquarium, Dubai Ice Rink, The Green Planet, Motiongate, Woo-hoo, and Atlantis Aquaventure have efficiently obtained Certified Autism Center™ (CAC) standing, awarded by IBCCES, whereas key resort teams like Emaar Hospitality and Atlantis have additionally demonstrated dedication by way of investing in workforce coaching to safe their CAC standing.
Sustainability initiatives
The UAE’s ‘Year of Sustainability’ was prolonged into 2024 and Dubai’s tourism and hospitality sectors continued to spearhead town’s ecotourism technique. Released by DET in May, the inaugural ‘Dubai Sustainability Report’ highlighted the event plans and achievements that assist world goals such because the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2030, and country-wide methods together with the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 initiative.
As a part of DET’s ongoing Dubai Sustainable Tourism drive, the Dubai Sustainable Tourism Stamp was awarded to 70 lodges in January, with extra to be named within the coming months. The stamp recognises lodges with the very best stage of adherence to DET’s ‘19 Sustainability Requirements’, by way of a three-tier scheme with Gold, Silver and Bronze classes.
Another main citywide sustainability initiative is Dubai Can, which is aligned with efforts to remodel the emirate into a number one sustainable vacation spot and the perfect metropolis on this planet to go to, work and reside in. Since its launch in February 2022 by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Can, by way of its ‘Refill for Life’ marketing campaign, has seen the discount within the utilization of an equal of greater than 20.4 million 500 ml single-use plastic water bottles and 10.5 million litres of water distributed by way of 50 water fountains positioned all through town.
Another main milestone for Dubai’s sustainability drive in H1 2024 was the launch of Dubai Reef’s pilot reef modules in April. Part of Dubai Can, Dubai Reef is the world’s largest marine reef growth challenge, with 20,000 modules set to be deployed throughout 600 sq. kilometres of Dubai’s waters by 2027.