(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat -
After a decline of four per cent in 2018, there has been a massive 28 per cent growth in visitors from Oman to Dubai in the first half of 2019.
Dubai welcomed 8.36mn international overnight visitors in the first half of 2019, posting a three per cent growth in tourism volume compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data released by Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism).
Although Oman maintains its fifth position (same as last year) for the top source market, there was a massive 28 per cent growth as 499,000 visited Dubai compared to 390,000 in the same period of 2018.
In 2018, total visitors from Oman had fallen to 829,000 from 862,000 in 2017.
The new figures reinforce the continued strength of Dubai's tourism sector as a key driver of economic diversification and a reliable catalyst for GDP acceleration through 2020. The largest traffic generators as well as newer high-potential segments have set a strong preparatory pace to fuel Dubai's climb to becoming the most visited global destination.
Helal Saeed Almarri, director general, Dubai Tourism said, 'Tourism is one of the cornerstones of Dubai's diversified economic growth. We measure success based on our ability to aggressively advance towards our goal to be the most visited and most preferred city.
Helal Saeed Almarri
'The consequent rise in value creation opportunities, and more inclusive sector participation are core priorities, as we strive to sustainably grow tourism's contribution to the GDP.
'Our first half results are a particularly encouraging reflection of our progress towards this ambition and underline the effectiveness of our diversified market outreach with holistic 'awareness to booking' cycle content amplification and audience delivery, through a deeply networked ecosystem of global partners, industry stakeholders and government enablers.'
India once again led the pack, with highest half-year volumes at 997,000 visitors - particularly noteworthy given the severe air traffic and seat capacity challenges due to geopolitical volatilities. Dubai continues to drive booking interest from Indians on a mass scale largely due to high-impact delivery of segment and season-specific campaigns across the most accessible Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities.
Coming in strong as Dubai's second largest feeder market once again were 755,000 visitors from Saudi Arabia at two per cent year-on-year growth over six months with a notable 4.9 per cent increase over the Eid break alone - signifying continued stability in Dubai's attractiveness for Saudi families and millennials.
Staying firmly within Dubai's top three traffic drivers, there were 586,000 travellers from the UK beating all odds against a significantly devalued British pound (vs US dollar), amidst growing political and economic turbulences surrounding Brexit.
Contrary to general dampening in consumer sentiment, Dubai retained high demand from couples - constituting 56 per cent of share - and families accounting for 20 per cent - collectively up three percentage points from H1 2018.
With over 501,000 Chinese visitors to Dubai from January to June 2019, the stellar 11 per cent year-on-year growth from inarguably the world's most aggressively sought-after consumers is testament to Dubai Tourism's successful strategies to maintain high conversion appeal for China's outbound market.
Very close on China's heels, the second GCC stronghold - Oman - catapulted into the top five with a massive 28 per cent growth to land 499,000 visitors to Dubai, as Dubai Tourism's seasonal campaigns, tactical programmes and city activations reaped tangible dividends.
Inviting GCC travellers to share their unique Dubai stories with specially themed music for a chance to win a trip to the emirate, the programme delivered exceptional response from the target audiences with over 30mn video views and nearly 10,000 posted UGC videos.
Following an exceptional resurgence in Dubai travel for 2018, thanks to the visa-on-arrival enablement, growth from Russia levelled to more sustainable levels, as H1 2019's sixth largest source market delivered 375,000 visitors to Dubai.
The US followed in seventh spot with 329,000 visitors, marginally up from 327,000 in H1 2018, supported by concerted marketing efforts and trade collaborations with five new trade partnerships developed in the first half of 2019, to raise awareness of the destination and promote holiday packages and deals.
Germany's five per cent growth to deliver 316,000 visitors, and Pakistan's three per cent growth to send 253,000 visitors, brought them in at eighth and ninth positions respectively. The Philippines jumped three ranks to enter the top 10, finishing a strong first half with 216,000 travellers, reflecting a 29 per cent increase that made it the fastest growing source market for Dubai this year.
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