Dubai reached new heights by welcoming an impressive 15.92 million international overnight visitors in 2018, revealed Dubai’s Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), with Indian visitors topping the list with over 2 million travellers, followed by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with 1.6 million visitors.
Dubai created tailor-made marketing plans for specific markets to attract tourists from around the world to the emirate. For India, it was a destination-focused campaign #BeMyGuest, a collaboration with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and for KSA, specialised city-wide activities and promotions for events such as KSA National Day, all of which worked well.
The UK retains its third place slot with 1.2 million visitors, followed by China in fourth place with 857,000 visitors.
Russia showed a 28 per cent growth from 2017, with 678,000 visitors owing in part to the introduction of the visa-on-arrival scheme, as well as increasing the number of flights to the emirate from Russia.
Region wise, Western Europe was the largest contributor with a 21 per cent share, followed by the GCC and South Asia, contributing 18 and 17 per cent share.
Popular attractions and entertainment destinations include Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Parks and Resorts, IMG Worlds of Adventure, La Mer, Al Seef, Dubai Frame, the new Bluewaters Island and the Al Fahidi District among many.
Dubai remains focused on becoming the number one most visited city in the world in line with Dubai’s Tourism Strategy 2022-25.