Dubai tourists to residents: Why more people made the big move after Covid

Dubai is creating an ecosystem where tourists become new residents, said Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM).

“Today, it's not just about a city that you must visit, but it's a city that you must live in, especially in the post-Covid-19 period. There were a lot of things that Dubai was doing well and we were taking them for granted. We knew it very well, but most of the world didn't necessarily know it in detail. They knew superficially, and they loved what they knew.

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"When Dubai opened up after Covid and was the first to open, a lot of them started to come to Dubai and stayed here a couple of months because their cities weren't opening. That's when they experienced Dubai firsthand — beyond the beautiful hotels and the great service,” he said.

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Speaking during a fireside chat at the Dubai Airports’ Learning Week, Kazim added that safety, security, and everything else that Dubai offers, all of a sudden became a luxury in other parts of the world, whereas, in Dubai, people were taking it for granted.

“Therefore, more and more people start to relocate — high net worth individuals looking for opportunities here, fresh graduates looking for jobs and opportunities in Dubai, firms shifting regional and global headquarters to Dubai. Everything that we're doing today, which was done to literally look after and create an amazing life for the residents, is being enjoyed by the tourists, effectively creating that ecosystem where those tourists eventually become the new residents of Dubai. Dubai has become that well-oiled machine that is continuously creating those opportunities,” said DCTCM’s chief executive.

In the post-Covid-19 period, Dubai has been attracting tourists and residents from a number of new countries. These tourists have made the emirate their home along with their families due to the safety, security and lifestyle that it offers to its residents.

Therefore, the emirate’s population has increased to 3.938 million on May 12, 2025, up from 3.411 million on January 1, 2021.

Following back-to-back record-breaking years in 2023 and 2024, Dubai received 5.31 million international visitors from January to March 2025, a three per cent year-on-year increase compared to the same period in 2024.

Dubai blessed not to have oil

He pointed out that since Dubai merged the economy and tourism departments, the best city to work in and live in are key drivers for them.

Praising the emirate’s open-sky policy, he noted that Dubai receives a large number of people travelling through Dubai International airport. If a fraction could be converted into transit passengers who come and experience the city, they can be turned into stopover visitors next and then repeat visitors after that.

Kazim elaborated that Dubai has evolved as a destination to become a city of choice for over 200 nationalities, making up around 90 per cent of the population.

“That has been the backbone of Dubai's growth. That openness is the reason why Dubai is what it is today. The public-private sector partnership, where the government sector facilitates and enables the private sector, has been successful and will continue to be, going forward,” he said.

Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) highlighted the importance of the emirate’s entrepreneurial spirit in its growth history.

“When our journey started from tourism, at that stage in the region, there was nobody else playing within that space. I always say Dubai was blessed by not having oil. So it kind of forced Dubai to be entrepreneurial, to think like a startup, to think about how to generate its own GDP,” he said during the fireside chat.

• Dubai

Waheed Abbas

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

Waheed Abbas is Assistant Editor, covering real estate, aviation and other business stories that directly affect the lives of UAE consumers. He frequently reports human interest stories, too.