Dubai gears up to break tourism record as visitors flock for new experiences

Dubai is on track to achieve a record number of visitors this year, and the emirate’s tourism authority is pulling out all stops to make it happen. From entering new source markets to focusing on experiential tourism, the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) is working hard towards surpassing last year’s tourism numbers.

“The aim is to break the 18.7 million record that we had last year,” said Shahab Shayan, Regional Director Asia Pacific International Operations for Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing. “One of the key trends that we are seeing is revolving around experiences. Travellers are looking to build memories with their loved ones.”

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According to Shahab, today’s travellers are increasingly motivated by sustainability and the desire for unique selling points of their travel destinations. “Travellers are always looking to do something different that they can't do somewhere else,” he said.

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He was speaking to Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the World Travel Market (WTM) in London on Tuesday (November 4). Dubai is participating in the market with 71 partners, representing government agencies, airlines, hotels and attractions. By the end of September this year, the total number of visitors to Dubai stood at 13.95 million, up from 13.29 million during the same period last year.

Year-round destination

According to Shahab, DET had wanted to showcase Dubai as a “year-round city” and had three main targets- increase overnight visitation, length of stay, and repeat visitors. Currently Dubai has an impressive 25 percent of its tourists coming back to emirate repeatedly.

“There's always something to look forward to,” he said. “We currently just launched the Dubai Fitness Challenge, which has gone global. There was a huge post about it in Spain in the Madrid stand before the match. We have the Dubai Shopping Festival, and of course the Dubai Summer Surprises.” 

Expanding source markets

Currently DET operates in 80 markets, with over 3000 partners. According to Shahab, the most important source markets continue to be India, UK, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Russia. Approximately 1.4 million visitors came to Dubai from India in 2024 with UK following closely behind with 1.1 million visitors.

To sustain momentum, DET is looking to emerging markets. “We've looked at Vietnam as being a new potential for us,” said Shahab. “Turkey is a new market that we began a few years back. Eastern Europe is a new region for us overall and we're putting a lot of effort in Romania and the likes. We also have other parts of Africa that we are looking at. Egypt is one that we've been operating in the last few years very heavily and has huge potential.”

Rather than targeting a set number of new markets each year, Shayan explained that DET takes a data-driven approach. “We look at what sort of segments are we going to focus on and what's the return on investment,” he said. “So there's a different criteria for each of the markets that we look at.”

Unified destination

All seven emirates are participating in this year’s World Travel Market, each presenting its distinct attractions while promoting the UAE as a unified destination.

“The seven emirates are like seven distinct experiences and stories woven together by a common identity and purpose in the UAE,” said Mansoor Abdullah Khalfan Juma Abulhoul, the UAE’s ambassador to the UK, speaking to media at the DET stand.

“You're also seeing very innovative experiences- a nation that is bringing forward its history and culture and great experience for people who visit. Each emirate offers something unique and this is something distinct that as a country, we can say to the world to come to us," he added.

Nasreen Abdulla

nasreen@khaleejtimes.com

Nasreen Abdulla is a Special Correspondent covering food, tech and human interest stories. When not challenged by deadlines, you’ll find her pulling off submissions on the jiu jitsu mats.