International visitors to Dubai rise 3%

Dubai welcomed 3 percent more international visitors in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, with the largest single group coming from Western Europe.

More than 5.3 million people visited the emirate – the most populous of the seven-member UAE federation – with those from Western Europe accounting for almost a quarter, or 22 percent, Gulf News reported, citing the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

This was followed by visitors from Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (17 percent) and then from other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (15 percent), the data showed. 

The CIS constitutes the former republics of the Soviet Union.

Last year Dubai had almost 19 million visitors, up 9 percent year on year.

• High occupancy rates push UAE hotel revenues to $12bn
• Foreign tourists in Dubai hit 17m in 11 months of 2024
• Demand for luxury keeps Dubai hotel openings upscale

Hotel revenue across the UAE rose 3 percent year-on-year to AED 45 billion ($12.3 billion) in 2024, the chairman of the Emirates Tourism Council said earlier this month.

The UAE tourism strategy is to increase the sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP to AED450 billion by 2031, attract new investment of AED100 billion to the sector and welcome 40 million guests to the country’s hotels by the next decade.