Dubai’s tourist numbers up 18% in first four months of 2023

Dubai’s tourist numbers up 18% in first four months of 2023

Dubai welcomed 6.02 million tourists between January and April 2023, data showed, nearly a million more than the same period last year, at 5.1 million – 18.04 per cent up. The tourist footfall was also very close to 6.26 million registered in the same period in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, and more than a third of 2022’s annual numbers of 14.36 million. Most tourists were from India, at 806,000, followed by Russia (474,000), the UK (391,000), Saudi Arabia (352,000), and Oman (348,000). Germany, the US, Israel, China and Iran were among the top 10 source countries. Overall, most tourists came from Western Europe (22 per cent), followed by South Asia (16 per cent) and Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe (15 per cent). This surge in tourists comes as Dubai’s main tourism engines, Emirates airline and Dubai International Airport, have taken quick and measured steps to ease pandemic-induced restrictions, employ adequate staff and rapidly expand services as tourist numbers climbed, even as airlines and airports internationally struggle with burgeoning tourist numbers. A nationwide vaccination drive, easing of entry restrictions and enhancement of tourist offerings in the UAE have made the emirates a sought-after destination not just for tourists but also