Dubai seeks to attract more international visitors in 2022 than the 7.28 million it welcomed last year, as the emirate focuses on new source markets, offers flexible visa categories, and draws more businesses, according to the Emirate’s tourism head.
Issam Kazim, chief executive of Dubai Department of Tourist and Commerce Marketing, told The National in an interview at the Arabian Travel Market on 12 May that the emirate is broadening its tourism source markets with an emphasis on Latin America, Eastern Europe and the United States.
“Based on the current state of affairs, we should easily beat last year’s total since this is the very least the city could anticipate,” he added. “We’re hopeful that most of the other markets continue to open up and that we don’t have to impose any more limitations.”
According to government figures, Dubai, the Middle East’s economic and trading hub, received almost 4 million tourists in the first quarter of this year, up 214 percent from the same period last year. It is also rated #1 in the world in terms of hotel occupancy rates, with hotels reporting an 82 percent occupancy rate in the first three months of 2022. After putting in place precautions to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the city was one of the first to return to tourists in June 2020.
Mr.Kazim said the emirate is seeking to develop new markets because of the closure in China, which was one of Dubai’s major supply markets before the outbreak.
“We’re working with Emirates Airline because it’s a long-haul destination, so we’re trying to make sure that we’re doing point-to-point where we can, but also doing transfers where we can, in Latin America.”
“We have a great potential in Eastern European countries,” Mr. Kazim added, mentioning Poland, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan as examples. “There’s more for us to do there.”
According to Mr Kazim, the number of Russian tourists to the emirate has remained “steady” in the first quarter since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with Dubai continuing to be a place where they may explore business and leisure options.
While reciprocal airspace bans and other restrictions have severely limited flights between Russia and the rest of the globe, Dubai’s Emirates Airlines is one of the few surviving transport links between Russia and the rest of the world.
By 2025, Dubai hopes to attract 25 million international visitors. The emirate also aspires to become the world’s most visited city, moving up from fourth place after Bangkok, London and Paris.
