Dubai’s multi-pronged approach to remain open, secure, and accessible has earned the city the title of world’s most popular global destination in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2022. According to the Department of Economy and Tourism, the ranking will bolster the city’s efforts to realize Mohammed bin Rashid’s vision of making the emirate the world’s best place to live and work. The department continues to collaborate closely with stakeholders and partners to ensure a steady flow of business and leisure travelers to the city.
During the period January to December 2021, Dubai received 7.28 million international overnight visitors, representing a 32 percent year-over-year increase (YoY). This represents a watershed moment in the global tourism recovery, putting the city firmly on track to achieve sustainable growth on its way to becoming the world’s most visited destination.
Dubai’s ranking as the world’s top destination in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2022 marks a watershed moment in the city’s progress toward realizing the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the most visited tourist destination in the world as well as the best place to live and work.
As selected by Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards, Dubai was awarded the world’s best global destination, as well as the world’s best destination for city lovers and the world’s fourth best destination for food lovers, among other accolades. Winning the three awards is a significant accomplishment for Dubai, as the awards were determined by the quality and quantity of independent destination reviews and ratings from travelers across a range of categories, including accommodations, restaurants, and activities, over a 12-month period between November 1, 2020 and October 31, 2021.
Respectfully, Your Excellency “Inspired by the visionary leadership of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the city adopted a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the pandemic, which included a series of initiatives that further enhanced our global competitiveness and attractiveness as a multi-faceted destination,” Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), said. Being recognized as the top worldwide destination is a time of great pride for Dubai, and it reaffirms the determined but sensible efforts taken by the city to securely navigate and accelerate out of this unprecedented global crisis.
In addition, this achievement is testament to the dynamism, resilience, and accessibility of Dubai, as well as our ability to successfully provide moments of delight to residents and visitors, and overall, delivering the highest standards of service and the best guest experience across all tourism touchpoints, from the moment they arrive in the city until they depart,” the statement continued.
There is also growing collaboration between Dubai’s Economic and Tourism Department, as well as its stakeholders and partners from both domestic and international sources, in order to position Dubai as a global hub for business and leisure, as well as building on the success of Expo 2020 Dubai and the UAE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, as well as positioning Dubai as an international events destination.”
Due to Dubai’s successful handling of the epidemic and early effort to lead the global tourism recovery, the city’s reputation as one of the safest tourist destinations has been recovered. In addition, the constant dialogue and cooperation between DET and stakeholders ensured that the ecosystem was working together to promote Dubai as a must-visit destination, highlighting the city’s diverse destination proposition, and reinforcing the message that the city is open and safe for both domestic and international visitors.
As part of these efforts, Dubai has also developed initiatives to lower entrance barriers for business and leisure travelers, as well as long-term residence programs that provide opportunities for greater participation and longer-term stay in the city. For example, new visas and programs are being introduced such as the Golden Visa which is aimed at investors as well as entrepreneurs and specialized skills, the Five Year Multi-Entry Visa for workers of multinational corporations, as well as the Virtual Working and Retire in Dubai Programs.
The tourism business in Dubai is developing at a rapid rate, fueled by a strong domestic market and increased trust among industry professionals and travelers alike, particularly in light of the widespread implementation of vaccination and booster programs throughout the globe.
According to the most recent figures given by the Department of Economic Development, Dubai had more than six million foreign visitors between January and November 2021, above the 5.5 million tourists that visited Dubai throughout the full year 2020. Additionally, 743 hotel businesses with over 136,000 rooms opened their doors to visitors during this 11-month period, resulting in high occupancy rates of over 60%, which is among the greatest occupancy rates in all of Europe and is among the highest worldwide.
Expo 2020 Dubai has also made significant contributions to raising public awareness of the city and attracting more tourists to the city in general. Since its official inauguration on October 1, 2020, Expo 2020 has had more than 10 million visits from locals and visitors from across the world.
Dubai was able to overcome the negative effect of international travel restrictions in major global markets, maintaining its position as the first-choice safe tourism destination, drawing tourists from markets that remained open during the year 2021.
Dubai’s traditional strongholds have regained momentum and are expected to post positive growth in 2021, with India delivering 910,000 visitors (5.3 percent year on year), followed by 491,000 visitors from Saudi Arabia (+22.8 percent year on year), while Russia and the United Kingdom contributed 444,000 visitors (+50.3 percent year on year) and 420,000 visitors (+7.1 percent year on year), respectively.
10 MOST POPULAR SOURCE MARKETS (NUMBER OF VISITORS)
India: 910,000
Saudi Arabia: 491,000
Russia: 444,000
UK: 420,000
USA: 311,000
France: 291,000
Oman: 280,000
Pakistan: 247,000
Germany: 240,000
Egypt: 218,000