(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A big surge in tourist arrivals from China, Russia and India drove overnight visitor traffic to Dubai to a record 4.57 million in the first quarter, up 11 per cent, the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) said on Monday.
The first quarter surge in inbound traffic reflected more than double the growth achieved in the first quarter of 2016, Dubai Tourism announced at the Arabian Travel Market.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the Middle East's leading travel and tourism event on Monday as it celebrates 24 years of industry milestones.
Sheikh Mohammed was joined by dignitaries including Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai; Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and CEO of the Emirates Group; and Helal Saeed Almarri, director-general of Dubai Tourism.
The show welcomed over 2,600 exhibitors - with 100 exhibiting for the first time - representing more than 150 countries, across 65 national pavilions. The show also extends across an additional hall, in order to meet growing demand.
China and Russia continued to top the growth trajectory charts with unparalleled 64 per cent and 106 per cent increases over first quarter of 2016, delivering 230,000 and 126,000 tourists respectively.
The impressive growth was attributable in large part to the positive regulatory changes enabling citizens from both countries to obtain free visas-on-arrival in the UAE.
"This performance spike has resulted in both countries moving up in their rankings as key feeder markets for Dubai, with China at number four and Russia at number 11, edging closer to a return to the top 10," Dubai Tourism said.
India, Saudi Arabia, and the UK retained their stronghold as the top three source markets, accounting collectively for 30 per cent of total first quarter visitation to Dubai. India became the first ever market to record nearly 580,000 visitors in any one quarter, with a massive 23 per cent growth in arrivals between January and March.
"The first quarter has set us off on a very strong trajectory for the year and we are pleased to see our strategic investments and policy reforms yielding such definitive impact," said Almarri.
"As Dubai continues to evolve and expand the breadth and depth of its tourism proposition, we expect to amplify the appeal of our city as the top consideration for not only first-time but also repeat business and leisure travellers. Thanks to the support from our visionary leadership, backed by the strength of our stakeholder collaboration, we have made tremendous strides in ongoing efforts to increase the city's accessibility, minimise barriers to travel, and make it as seamless as possible for prospective tourists to visit and revisit Dubai," said Almarri.
China and Russia's strong acceleration in response to Dubai Tourism's initiatives are a clear reflection of the importance of such measures as facilitators of tourism sector growth, he noted.
"The positive start to 2017 is an encouraging endorsement of our overall strategy, although we are prudently aware that travel is among the leading industries that is undergoing a global transformation and is in a state of complete disruption today," said Almarri.
"We look forward to the continued support of our government, public and private sector partners as we move a step closer towards delivering 20 million visitors per year by 2020, as well as to collectively creating today, for global travel, what the world may aspire to in 10 years' time."
Kulwant Singh, founder and managing director of Dubai-based Lama Tours, said arrivals into Dubai during the first quarter have been record breaking and I am sure this will lay a foundation to achieve the 20 million visitor target by 2020.
"Dubai's superb infrastructure and government initiatives have played a key role in attracting such large numbers. In fact, Dubai is now becoming a global first choice for a large number of people wishing to travel for leisure, holidays, MICE or weddings."
Simon Press, senior exhibition director, ATM, said there is every reason to believe that China would maintain its position as a top source market, moving forward.
"Currently, 13 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen as well as Hong Kong and Taipei, are connected to Dubai with more than 100 weekly flights."
Thierry Antinori, executive vice-president and chief commercial officer, Emirates, said the airline is seeing rising demand from consumers for more authentic and engaging travel experiences.
"We add value by building connectivity. Our operations have more than doubled in size in the last ten years, and our footprint is truly global, spread across 83 countries in six continents."
Despite turbulence in many of Dubai's source markets and a stronger dollar-linked dirham making the emirate more expensive for visitors, the city received 14.9 million overnight visitors in 2016, an increase of five per cent on 2015.
Dubai's diverse hotel room inventory stood at 104,503 spread across 680 establishments at the end of the first quarter of 2017, the latter figure representing a six per cent growth over the end of March last year. Occupied room nights were also up year on year, totalling 7.96 million compared to 7.55 million at the end of first quarter 2016, with the average occupancy rate across all hotel and hotel apartment categories increasing two percentage points over the same period to reach a very strong 87 per cent.
-
Issac John Associate Business Editor of Khaleej Times, is a well-connected Indian journalist and an economic and financial commentator. He has been in the UAE's mainstream journalism for 35 years, including 23 years with Khaleej Times. A post-graduate in English and graduate in economics, he has won over two dozen awards. Acclaimed for his authentic and insightful analysis of global and regional businesses and economic trends, he is respected for his astute understanding of the local business scene.
MENAFN2604201700490000ID1095421483
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.