(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Dubai remains on track to becoming the most visited city for global travel, business and events, according to the latest visitation figures released by Dubai's Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism).
The emirate welcomed 11.58 million visitors in the first three quarters of 2018, with India retaining its position as Dubai's leading source market, followed by Saudi Arabia and the UK continuing to hold second and third positions respectively, underlining the city's sustained appeal to its traditional strongholds and a wider diversified global audience.
Russia, China and Germany continued to be key drivers within the top performing markets, each recording double-digit growth compared to the same period in 2017.
Tourism from Russia remained on high trajectory, growing by a massive 60 per centyear-on-year basis, with visitor numbers surging to 460,000 in just the first nine months of 2018. The increase in Russian overnight guests was supported by a strong 19 per centgrowth in air capacity across non-stop flights, in addition to added ease of travel access following the introduction of visa-on-arrival facilities in the last two years.
China also continued to highlight benefits from the visa-on-arrival scheme, complementing the ongoing 'China Readiness' strategy, consequently re-enforcing its upward curve resulting in China securing its position as the fourth largest feeder market with an impressive 641,000 visitors so far this year, marking a 12 per centincrease versus 573,000 for the same period last year. Germany grew even faster at 15 per centto reach 388,000 visitors during the first nine months, landing in eighth place within the top 10 source markets for Dubai.
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