A year after reopening to international tourists, Dubai is now leading the charge towards global tourism recovery.
The emirate welcomed 3.7 million overnight visitors from July 2020 to May 2021, the latest data published by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism showed.
The positive performance reinforces the leading role Dubai is playing in global tourism recovery, underscoring the city’s enduring appeal as a must-visit destination and reaffirming its commitment to ensuring the health and safety of all residents and visitors.
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai said the new data reveals that Dubai’s tourism rebound is gathering pace despite the current challenges faced by international markets.
“The growing momentum of recovery not only reflects the fundamental strengths of Dubai’s tourism sector and the diversity of its source markets but also the emirate’s economic resilience and agility in the face of a rapidly fluctuating global environment. We have seen inspiring commitment and proactivity from all stakeholders in the public and private sector to work together to adopt innovative approaches that can consolidate the sustainable recovery of the sector,” His Highness said.
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His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed noted Dubai’s ability to implement a rigorous precautionary protocol regime has made the city one of the world’s safest destinations for travelers.
His Highness added these exceptional standards will ensure the Expo 2020 provides the highest global benchmarks of safety and security for all visitors.
Data published by Dubai Tourism revealed the emirate received more than 1.7 million visitors between July and December 2020 from markets that were open, and an additional two million visitors in the first five months of 2021.
The evolving travel landscape has brought forth some noteworthy performances from feeder and emerging markets, especially CIS countries like Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and East African markets Ethiopia and Sudan, that have all exhibited strong growth potential to be among the top 15 source markets for Dubai since it reopened its doors to global travellers.
Dubai Tourism also said the provision of a relief package worth over AED 7.1 billion combined with a phased reopening of key sectors and the department’s strong collaboration with local stakeholders and over 3,000 partners worldwide, helped the industry chart a steady course for recovery.
His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai Tourism, said “the series of swift strategic measures taken by Dubai’s leadership enabled the city to demonstrate a high level of resilience, foresight and agility in managing the pandemic and eventually take the lead in the restart of international tourism.
Hospitality sector rebounds
Dubai’s recovery strategy is proved to be crucial in the rebound of the hospitality sector especially in the domestic hospitality market.
Pent-up demand for staycations among UAE residents, both Emiratis, and expatriates from over 200 nationalities, drove tourism growth with hotel occupancy rising significantly from 35% in July 2020 to 58% in May 2021.
Hotel occupancy in Dubai peaked in December 2020 (69%) and in January 2021 (66%) with the city ranking second globally in terms of occupancy after Singapore and ahead of Paris and London, according to data from hotel management analytics firm STR.
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Notably, the average daily rate (ADR) recovered from AED238 in July 2020 to AED383 in May 2021.
Despite the disruption caused by COVID-19 across sectors, Dubai continues to represent a major opportunity for hotel developers.
A total of 591 hotel establishments with 100,000 rooms were operating in July 2020 in full compliance with health and safety protocols. This has now increased to 715 hotel establishments offering 128,000 rooms in May 2021.
The hotels also enjoyed an average 56% occupancy during the Eid Al Fitr holiday week in May 2021, slightly lower than the 62% recorded in the same period in 2019.
The concerted efforts of Dubai Tourism and partners to drive demand for domestic travel saw hotels welcoming 5.5 million domestic visitors for the period between July 2020 and May 2021, compared to 2.66 million domestic hotel arrivals during the period July 2019 to May 2020, a year-on-year growth of 106%.
Domestic hotel arrivals during the Eid break in May 2021 also accounted for 62% of all hotel guest arrivals compared to 47% in 2019. (RA)
