Dubai recorded the highest international overnight visitor spend in 2017 with tourists shelling out $29.7 billion (Dh109bn), a ranking of global cities by Mastercard found.
The emirate attracted the most consumption by tourists for the third year in a row, with a $537 daily spend, according to Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index 2018, which assessed 162 cities.
Dubai was also ranked the fourth most-visited city in the world for the fourth year. Abu Dhabi is the fastest growing city in the Middle East and Africa, with a compound annual growth rate of 18.21 per cent between 2009 and 2017 in overnight visitor arrivals. The capital is also among the top 10 cities experiencing the strongest growth in international arrivals.
New attractions and experiences have contributed to Dubai's success, said Issam Kazim, the chief executive of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing. He cited the city's "culture and the arts to history and heritage as well as updates to attractions" as main contributors to the rise.
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Dubai, the commercial and tourism hub of the Arabian Gulf, received 8.1 million tourists in the first half of this year, a nearly flat year-on-year growth, according to the DCTCM. But the number of visitors from China and Russia rose sharply due to to a relaxation in visa requirements for the nationals from the two countries. The UAE, the second biggest GCC economy, is implementing a number of measures to boost tourism, including plans to grant visit visa to transit passengers.
Abu Dhabi has also seen its investment into promoting the emirate as a must-visit tourist destination pay off. The number of hotel guests staying in the capital rose by 10.5 per cent in August compared to the same period last year, said the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi earlier this week.
In Mastercard’s index, Bangkok was the most visited city in the world with 20.05m visitors last year and an average daily spend of $173. London took second position with 19.83m visitors and Paris came in third with 17.44m visitors.
While Dubai took fourth place as it hosted 15.79m overnight tourists in 2017, with an average stay of three-and-half nights, visitors spent significantly more on a daily basis.
Paris had the second highest daily spend at $301 a day, followed by Singapore at $286. The daily spend amount includes the cost of staying in a hotel.
Saudi Arabia’s Mecca had the second highest international spend in 2017 at $18.45bn. This is likely due to the high number of religious visitors the city receives annually. London came in at third position with an annual international spend of $17.45bn. Of the most visited cities, Istanbul had the lowest spend per day at just $108 on average.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos
Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UNpaid bills:
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN budget in 2019
USA – $1.055 billion
Brazil – $143 million
Argentina – $52 million
Mexico – $36 million
Iran – $27 million
Israel – $18 million
Venezuela – $17 million
Korea – $10 million
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN peacekeeping operations in 2019
USA – $2.38 billion
Brazil – $287 million
Spain – $110 million
France – $103 million
Ukraine – $100 million
RESULTS
Manchester United 2
Anthony Martial 30'
Scott McTominay 90 6'
Manchester City 0
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