Dubai welcomes more than 14M international visitors in 2022

21-02-23

Tourist travel to Dubai in 2022 reaches 86% of pre-pandemic levels, exceeding global recovery levels of 63% and Middle East recovery levels of 83%.

Dubai welcomed 14.36 million international visitors in 2022, equivalent to a 97% year-on-year growth from 7.28 million tourist arrivals in 2021, according to the latest data released by Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).

Among foreign tourists, Dubai continues to focus on the Spanish market, taking advantage of the fact that Spaniards are travelling abroad more. This is demonstrated by the data: the long weekends in December exceeded the volume of trips abroad compared to the same long weekends in 2019 by +32%.

Due to the desire to travel in the next six months, Spaniards are the second European market with the highest intention to travel with 74.7%. 

The growth, which enabled Dubai to outperform global and regional tourism recovery levels, contributes to the objective of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to consolidate Dubai's status as one of the top three cities in the world for tourism and business.    

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council has highlighted the exceptional growth in visitor arrivals, reflecting Dubai's continued rise as one of the world's most connected cities and its determination to lead the world in hotel infrastructure and service levels.    

Approaching its pre-pandemic figure of 16.73 million visits in 2019, Dubai's tourism performance in 2022 further validated its ranking as the number one global destination in Tripadvisor's Travellers' Choice Awards 2023 for the second year in a row, only the second city in history to achieve this.    

The latest data from the World Tourism Organization, UNWTO, shows that global tourism travel in 2022 was 37% lower than in 2019. The Middle East recorded the largest relative increase, with arrivals rising to 83% of pre-pandemic figures.

Dubai outperformed both global and regional recovery barometers, with visitors to the city in 2022 reaching 86% of pre-pandemic levels.

Dubai's international markets maintain momentum 

From a regional perspective, Western Europe and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf (GCC) regions each accounted for 21 per cent of arrivals. The GCC region, in particular, saw an exponential increase in its share of arrivals from 13% in 2021 to 21% last year.

South Asia contributed 17 per cent of total volumes, while the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region contributed 12 per cent, further reinforcing Dubai's continued attractiveness to travellers from proximity markets.

The Americas accounted for 7% of arrivals, while the North and South East Asia and Africa regions contributed 5% each and Australasia 2%.    

Hotel sector achieves significant growth 

Dubai's hotel sector is a key part of the emirate's future projection and the overall growth of the tourism industry.

Average occupancy in the hotel sector in 2022 stood at 73%, one of the highest in the world, compared to 67% in 2021. The figure is just below the 75% occupancy of the pre-pandemic period in 2019.

The high occupancy is particularly notable as it was achieved despite a 16% increase in room supply in 2022 compared to 2019.