International visitor numbers to Dubai grow at start of 2019

International visitor numbers to Dubai are increasing. Reuters

The total number of international guests who visited Dubai during first two months of 2019 grew by 90,000 compared to same period of 2018, according to data published by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing on its website.

Some 3.14 million foreign tourists visited Dubai in January to February this year compared to 3.05 million in the same period last year, 3.01 million in 2017 and 2.68 million in 2016, respectively.

Western Europe topped the source of foreign visitors at 22 per cent of the total, with the GCC next at 18 per cent and South East Asia at 17 per cent.

Of individual countries, India was the primary source of guests at 386,000, a drop of 9 per cent over the same period last year, while the number of visitors from the UK rose 4 per cent, those from Germany increased 11 per cent and from the US the number was up 4 per cent.

Oman led the way in terms of percentage increase with 25 per cent more visitors from the country in January to February (175,000) compared to the corresponding period last year.
The average occupancy rate for hotel establishments in the period came in at 84 per cent, compared with 87 per ent last year.
Revenue per available room was Dh432 in the January to February period, down from Dh501m last year, while the average daily room rate was Dh513 compared to Dh574 in 2018.

The tourism department's latest figures come after the Global Wealth Migration Report for 2019, developed by AfrAsia Bank and New World Wealth, last week revealed that Dubai attracted more than 1,000 millionaires from outside the country last year, surpassing major cities like Los Angeles, Melbourne, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Sydney.

The report described Dubai as the most prominent financial centre in the Middle East, and one of the safest cities in the region as well as a popular destination for high net worth individuals (HNWIs) and wealthy expatriates, according to state news agency WAM. The report also said that Dubai is an example of the power that business incentives have in encouraging business formation.

Approximately 2,000 HNWIs, each with at least $1 million worth of net assets, moved into the UAE in 2018, boosting the local economy. The number of affluent migrants in the UAE rose by 2 per cent in 2018, compared to the previous year, according to the report.

It added that globally approximately 108,000 millionaires migrated in 2018, compared to 95,000 in 2017. China saw a mass exodus of 15,000 millionaires in 2018, the most significant of any country in the world, followed by Russia, which saw about 7,000 millionaires leave. India said farewell to 5,000 millionaires, while Turkey lost 4,000, and 3,000 millionaires each migrated from France and the UK.