Dubai welcomed 6.12 lakh visitors from India during Jan-Mar quarter

Mumbai: Dubai hosted 6.12 lakh visitors from India during the January-March quarter this year, a sharp uptick of 62.76 per cent compared to the same period last year, Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) said.

The Middle East country had hosted 3.76 lakh visitors from India during the corresponding quarter in 2022, according to the latest data published by DET.

Overall, Dubai welcomed 46.7 lakh international overnight visitors in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 39.7 lakh tourists during the same period in 2022, marking a 17 per cent YoY growth.

"The remarkable growth in international visitation achieved in the first quarter of 2023 demonstrates the city's emergence as one of the key destinations leading the way in the rebound of the global tourism sector," Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, said.

He said, the Dubai Economic Agenda charts an ambitious new path for Dubai to enhance its contributions to shaping the future of the global economy.

"The tourism sector is not only the strongest pillar of our economy but also a key enabler of Dubai's distinctive role in the world as a bridge between markets, cultures and regions.

"In the years ahead, Dubai will continue to introduce new path breaking initiatives to offer a distinctive proposition for travellers and achieve its goal of becoming the world's best place to live, visit, work and invest in," he added.

The number of visitors in the first quarter of 2023, was just two percentage points short of the pre-pandemic volume of 47.5 lakh tourists that arrived in Dubai in the first three months of 2019.

This is a remarkable achievement since turning the tide in July 2020 by reopening the city to international tourists, and in spite of current global economic headwinds, DET said.

"The first quarter of 2023, has set us off on a very strong trajectory for the year. Sustainability will form the core of all that we do, incorporating sustainable practices into every aspect of the visitor experience to advance our journey towards becoming the world's best city to live and work in," DET Director General Helal Saeed Almarri said.

According to DET, the majority of the regions have demonstrated significant increase in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, while four regions have fully recovered and surpassed Q1 2019 levels - CIS and Eastern Europe, MENA, Americas and Australasia.

Both South Asia and Western Europe are close to achieving pre-pandemic levels in terms of tourism volumes, it added.