Dubai sees tourism surge as 'diversified approach' helps it tap new markets

Dubai received 11.4 million overnight international visitors during January-October 2022, up 134% from the same period in 2021, according to Dubai Economy and Tourism, with a senior official stressing on Thursday that a "diversified approach" has helped tap new markets.

Its strategies have enabled it to penetrate as many as 82 different markets this year, said Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM).

Kazim made these remarks at the Skift Global Forum East which concluded in Dubai on Thursday, reported Khaleej Times.

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"The emirate is working on not just the products but the pricing and the timing to ensure tourists are catered to in terms of their budgets and requirements," Kazim was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.

“When the rest of the world is still recovering from Covid-19, we have been able to see success in our numbers despite China still not being back to its full potential. We have diversified our approach and this helped us tap new markets,” he added.

The number of overnight visitors to Dubai in the first 10 months of 2022 more than doubled. India and Oman were the two major source markets with million-plus visitors, followed by Saudi Arabia, the UK, Russia, the USA, Germany, Pakistan, France and Iran, added Khaleej Times.

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This comes hand-in-hand with reports that Dubai’s tourism body is working with authorities to roll out five-year multiple-entry tourist visas on a much bigger scale in order to attract more tourists.

“The five-year tourist visa response has been good, but right now it has been rolled out softly. We are working with authorities closely to ensure that we roll out on a much bigger scale very soon – because the multi-entry visa will again help us a lot [of tourists], especially with the nearby region,” Kazim was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.

He further added that efforts are underway to enable visitors to apply for a five-year visa from the DCTCM digital platform.

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Dubai was named the second most attractive city destination in the world for tourism, according to Euromonitor International’s Top 100 City Destinations Index 2022, added the report.

Paris retained the first position, followed by Dubai, Amsterdam, Madrid, Rome, London, Munich, Berlin, Barcelona and New York that made up the coveted top 10.

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