Dubai, UAE — Dubai welcomed 9.31 million international overnight visitors from January to June 2024, a 9 percent increase over the 8.55 million tourist arrivals in the first half of 2023, according to data published by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).
Following a landmark 2023, when the city hosted 17.15 million international overnight visitors, Dubai has continued to sustain its strong tourism momentum. The growth in the first six months of this year puts the city on track for a record performance in 2024.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, said, “With its sustained growth, Dubai is setting the standard for cities worldwide, in line with the objective of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to establish Dubai as one of the world’s top urban economies.”
“The strong tourism growth achieved by Dubai in the first half of 2024 is testament to the city’s ability to foster productive public-private partnerships and build extensive global networks of collaboration. With every year, Dubai continues to consolidate its status as a frontrunner in the global tourism landscape and grow in popularity as an international destination,” Sheikh Hamdan added.
Global accolades and industry events
The rise in international visitation during H1 2024 is the result of citywide strategies established across key tourism pillars, created and implemented in partnership with stakeholders across the public and private sectors. Beyond the growth demonstrated through the performance, these efforts also yielded international recognition.
Starting 2024 on a high note, Dubai was named the No.1 global destination for an unprecedented third successive year in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards in January, making it the first city to achieve this unique accolade. The first half of the year also saw Dubai named the Middle East’s leading destination by the World Travel Awards, while Dubai International Airport and Mina Rashid were named the Middle East’s leading airport and leading cruise port for 2024 respectively.
Helal Saeed Almarri, Director-General of DET, said, “Our success stems from a diversified market approach, strong public-private partnerships, liberal visa policies, and alternative growth pathways, all catalysts for the continued surge in both leisure and business visitation, along with increasing levels of investment and inflows of global talent.”
Key source markets
In collaboration with domestic stakeholders and more than 3,000 global partners in 80 markets, DET’s targeted campaigns resulted in Dubai achieving impressive growth in key markets in the first half of 2024. Dubai has maintained its position as a first-choice travel destination for visitors both from key traditional and emerging markets.
From January to June 2024, proximity markets in GCC and MENA had a combined 26 percent share of overall visitors, with 1.27 million (14 percent) and 1.09 million (12 percent) arrivals respectively. Western Europe accounted for 20 percent of visitors to Dubai, with 1.89 million in total. South Asia was another major source market, with 1.62 million visitors (17 percent), as was CIS and Eastern Europe with 1.37 million (15 percent). North-East and South-East Asia grew from an 8 percent share at the beginning of the year to a 10 percent share (896,000) of total visitors by the end of H1 2024, driven by strong recovery from China. Other regions also saw a rise in visitation to Dubai, including the Americas with 617,000 (7 percent), Africa with 404,000 (4 percent) and Australasia with 154,000 (2 percent).
Hotels and hospitality
According to DET’s latest data, the emirate’s hotel sector continued to perform well across all hospitality metrics from January to June, including occupancy, average daily rate (ADR), revenue per available room (RevPAR), and guests’ length of stay. Among the highest in the world, Dubai hotels’ average occupancy of 78.7 percent is a slight 1.0 percentage point higher than the 77.7 percent occupancy achieved for the same period in 2023.
Occupied room nights increased by 3 percent, with 21.35 million at the end of H1 2024, compared to 20.73 million in H1 2023. ADR rose to AED558 during H1, an increase of 4 percent compared to the same period in 2023, while RevPAR increased by 6 percent compared to last year, from AED415 to AED439. Meanwhile, total available rooms in Dubai reached 150,879 by the end of June 2024, compared to 148,689 rooms in June 2023, with the number of establishments standing at 823, up from 810 at the same point last year.
Issam Kazim, CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said: “Inspired by the city’s visionary leadership and guided by the objectives of the D33 Agenda, Dubai has continued to stay ahead of the curve by further elevating standards with innovative and distinctive world-class infrastructure, experiences and attractions.
Partnerships, collaborations and campaigns
In collaboration with its stakeholders and partners, DET continues to create new growth pathways beyond traditional tourism, through investment, entrepreneurship, and attracting global talent, ensuring the city remains a hub of creativity, innovation, and technological advancement. Global campaigns and partnerships also continue to be a key focus for the city, with ongoing initiatives including ‘Where will Dubai take you now?’, a music-led promotion by The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey which takes viewers to every corner of the emirate, and the ‘Drop by Dubai’ programme, which promotes Dubai as the perfect stopover destination.
Among the major attractions to open in the first half of the year was Real Madrid World at Dubai Parks and Resorts, the first theme park in the world to be operating under the branding of the famed Spanish football club. The opening aligns with wider collaborative efforts between the club and Dubai, including a multi-year agreement signed between DET and Real Madrid in October 2023.
Dubai has also established ongoing partnerships with major names in the music and entertainment fields, including Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer, who has become a vocal supporter of the emirate. Meanwhile, in the realm of gastronomy, Dubai had its own 50-minute episode on season seven of Somebody Feed Phil, a food travel show on Netflix where Phil Rosenthal tours restaurants across major global cities.
A global culinary and cruise hub
Dubai’s position as a world gastronomy capital was further reinforced after the third edition of the MICHELIN Guide Dubai was unveiled in July. The guide featured 106 restaurants, up from 90 in 2023, including four that were awarded two stars, 15 with one star, three with a green star, 18 Bib Gourmands, and 69 MICHELIN-selected restaurants. On the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 list, Trèsind Studio was ranked at No.13 and named the best restaurant in the Middle East, while Orfali Bros Bistro was ranked at No.64 on the extended list. Dubai is also placed at No.9 on Time Out’s 2024 ranking of ‘the world’s 20 best cities for food right now’.
The ongoing expansion of the cruise sector is also seeing significant benefits for Dubai, and in the 2023/2024 winter season from October to April the emirate welcomed more than 132 ship calls between Mina Rashid and Dubai Harbour. In March at ITB in Berlin, Dubai joined forces with other regional maritime and tourism authorities to formalise the strategic Cruise Arabia alliance, to promote the Arabian Gulf as a cruise ship destination globally.
International events destination
Dubai’s status as a global entertainment hub is bolstered by a year-round calendar of business, leisure and sporting events, which continue to attract international tourists. Organised by Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), some of Dubai’s biggest annual events were held during the first half of the year, including Dubai Shopping Festival, Chinese New Year, Ramadan in Dubai, Eid in Dubai, the Great Online Sale, and Dubai Food Festival.
The ongoing Dubai Summer Surprises is one of Dubai’s major shopping and entertainment events which makes the city as lively and vibrant in the summer season as it is during all other times of the year, further reinforcing Dubai’s position as a leading summer destination for families. Upcoming events throughout the rest of 2024 include Dubai Fashion Season Fall/Winter, Dubai Fitness Challenge, and UAE Union Day.
Business events also played a critical role – both through the major homegrown trade shows the city hosts annually, as well as the conferences and meetings brought to the city as a result of bidding activity driven by Dubai Business Events, part of DET and the city’s official convention bureau. So far this year, Dubai has hosted a number of major industry exhibitions and shows that have attracted thousands of visitors and exhibitors, including Gulfood (150,000 attendees), Arabian Travel Market (46,000 attendees), and the landmark 30th Dubai International Boat Show (more than 1,000 brands and 200 boats).