Emirates: Tourism in Dubai is booming, and how! According to the latest statistics released by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), the Emirate is closing in on its pre-Covid visitor numbers.

The Emirate received 14.36 million visitors in 2022, while hotels recorded 73 per cent average occupancy. There are multiple factors that drove Dubai’s tourism success last year.

1. New visas, entry procedures

Dubai continues to unveil strong regulatory initiatives to promote the growth of the tourism sector. Hassle-free entry procedures for business and leisure travellers include a 60-day tourist visa available from September 2022, and a five-year multi-entry visa for employees of multinational companies. The city also has a 10-year Golden Visa residency scheme, permits for virtual work, and retire in Dubai programmes.

In 2022, Dubai was selected as one of 20 destinations globally under Airbnb’s Live and Work Anywhere initiative to identify the world’s most remote worker-friendly destinations.

2. New landmarks, attractions

In 2022, a number of new attractions and initiatives were launched. These include the Museum of the Future, dubbed the most beautiful building in the world. Dubai also unveiled Expo City, the dynamic legacy of Expo 2020; and Atlantis The Royal, said to be the world’s most ultra-luxury resort.

3. Celebrity-led campaigns

Dubai pulled off global campaigns in collaboration with regional and international celebrities, opinion leaders, influencers and community personalities. One such campaign is Dubai Presents, which takes a novel approach to global destination marketing, using a highly-stylised movie approach to create engaging content. Shot against the backdrop of some of Dubai’s most iconic landmarks and unique hidden locations, these short films feature Hollywood stars like Jessica Alba and Zac Efron. The ‘Where the World Celebrates’ global campaign that coincided with the Fifa World Cup in Qatar featured French football star Karim Benzema.

Top officials vow to continue momentum

Helal Saeed Almarri, director-general of DET, said the effectiveness of Dubai’s strategies and initiatives “gives us the confidence to tap new growth opportunities in the global travel and business sectors over the next few decades”.

“As the fastest growing city in the Middle East, Dubai’s continuous growth has been made possible by the unwavering support of our stakeholders and partners and a raft of strategic investments and federal policy reforms that have led to a steady flow of global entrepreneurs, talent, investors, and business and leisure travellers.

“We will continue to accelerate momentum throughout 2023 and beyond by focusing on all the key elements that have placed Dubai at the forefront of the world’s leading travel destinations – a diversified approach to markets, an evolving multifaceted destination proposition, continuous collaboration with our partners, all of which have enabled us to deliver exceptional value to visitors from around the world.”

Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said the “sheer diversity” of the destination proposition and Dubai’s growing profile as a safe, open and accessible destination saw the city being chosen as the No.1 global destination for the second year in a row, in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2023.

“The exceptional support of our public and private sector stakeholders and partners will be instrumental in raising our ability to showcase our unmatched offering, designed to meet the diverse preferences and budgets of international travellers, as we gear up to welcome more visitors to Dubai in 2023.”