Dubai, UAE – Dubai received 14.36 million international overnight visitors in 2022, growing 97 percent YoY from the 7.28 million tourist arrivals in 2021, according to the latest data published by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).
The growth, which enabled the emirate to surpass global and regional tourism recovery levels, contributes to the goal of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to consolidate emirate’s status as one of the world’s top three cities for travel and business.
Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said the rise in international visitation in 2022 supports the ambitious goal of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to double the size of the emirate’s economy by 2033.
“The exceptional growth in the inflow of visitors reflects Dubai’s continued rise as one of the world’s most connected cities and its determination to lead the world in hospitality infrastructure and service levels,”Sheikh Hamdan said. “The high growth shows the world that we never rest on our achievements and constantly work to raise our benchmarks. I am confident that Dubai will be an even greater catalyst for the growth of global tourism and travel connectivity in the years ahead.”
By closing in on its pre-pandemic tourist inflow of 16.73 million in 2019, Dubai’s 2022 tourism performance further validated its ranking as the No.1 global destination in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2023 for the second successive year, only the second city in history to achieve the feat.
The latest data from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) shows that global tourist travel in 2022 was 37 percent lower than 2019.
The Middle East saw the strongest relative increase, with arrivals climbing to 83 percent of pre-pandemic numbers. Dubai exceeded both global and regional barometers of recovery with visitors to the city in 2022 reaching 86 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
From a regional perspective, Western Europe and GCC regions each accounted for a 21 percent share of arrivals.
The GCC region in particular saw an exponential increase in their share of arrivals from 13 per cent in 2021 to 21 percent last year.
South Asia contributed 17 per cent of total volumes while the MENA region contributed 12 percent, further reinforcing Dubai’s continued appeal to travellers from proximity markets.
The Americas accounted for seven per cent of arrivals while the North Asia and South East Asia region and Africa each contributed five per cent and Australasia accounted for two per cent.