Dubai attracts 7.12 million international visitors between January and June: DET

Dubai attracted 7.12 million international overnight visitors between January and June 2022, recording more than 183 per cent growth in visitors compared to the 2.52 million tourists who visited Dubai during the same period in 2021, according to the latest data from Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, said: “The vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the city of the future and the world’s best place to live, work and invest in has resulted in a resurgence of Dubai’s tourism sector. The growth in tourists reflects the resilience and dynamism of the emirate’s economy.

“The rapid rise in international tourist arrivals puts Dubai on track to achieving its ambitious target of becoming the world’s most visited destination. In the years ahead, Dubai will continue to develop itself further as a destination that offers compelling value to international travellers.”

According to a Dubai Media Office report, the number of tourists recorded in H1 2022 was close to the numbers achieved in the first six months of 2019, which saw 8.36 million tourists arriving in Dubai.

Regional market share
Western Europe accounted for a significant share of tourist arrivals, making up 22 per cent of total international visitors in the first six months of 2022. MENA and GCC collectively contributed 34 per cent of total international visitors.

These regions were followed closely by South Asia with a share of 16 per cent and Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe together accounting for 11 per cent of total visitors in H1 2022.

The wide geographic spread reflects Dubai’s diversified strategy aimed at attracting traffic from a broad spectrum of countries and visitor segments.

Hotel occupancy stats
The wide range of hotel establishments in Dubai performed well across all hospitality metrics during the first half of 2022.

Average occupancy for the hotel sector between January and June 2022 stood at 74 per cent, one of the world’s highest, compared to 62 per cent in H1 2021, a difference of 12 percentage points and just short of the 76 per cent occupancy level registered during the pre-pandemic period of H1 2019. This is particularly noteworthy as it was achieved in spite of an over 19 per cent increase in room capacity over the same period in 2019.

Dubai’s hotel inventory by the end of June 2022 comprised 140,778 rooms open at 773 hotel establishments, compared to 118,345 rooms available at the end of June 2019 across 714 establishments. Meanwhile, the total number of hotels in H1 2022 reflected an 8 per cent growth over H1 2021, highlighting continued strong investor confidence in Dubai’s tourism sector.

The hotel sector outperformed pre-pandemic levels across all other key measurements – occupied room nights, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR). Dubai hotel establishments delivered a combined 18.47million occupied room nights during the first six months of the year, an over 30.4 per cent YoY growth, and an over 18 per cent increase over the pre-pandemic period of H1 2019, which yielded 15.71 million occupied room nights.

The ADR of Dhs567 in the first half of the year surpassed the ADRs for both H1 2021 (Dhs382) and 2019 (Dhs444), with 48.5 per cent and 28 per cent YoY growth, respectively.

The strong performance of the hotel sector was evident in RevPAR growth – a surge of over 76 per cent compared to the first six months of  2021 (Dhs417 versus Dhs237)  and an increase of 24 per cent over the pre-pandemic period in 2019 (RevPAR of Dhs336).

According to hotel analytics firm STR, Dubai ranks number three globally on RevPAR (U$147), after Paris ($195) and New York ($172).

Read: Dubai welcomes 5.1 million visitors in the first four months of 2022