Dubai Welcomes Ever Increasing Number of UK Visitors

The number of overnight visitors to Dubai from the UK grew by 10% in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year.

Between January and March, 334,000 Brits travelled to the city for one night or more, consolidating the UK’s position as Dubai’s leading European visitor source market and its third largest overall.

According to the latest figures released by Dubai Tourism, the city welcomed a total of 4.1 million overnight visitors in the first three months of 2016, a 5.1 per cent increase on 2015.

Top of the guest list was Saudi Arabia, which contributed 476,000 holidaymakers and business travellers during the period.

Meanwhile, the GCC continued to be Dubai’s leading feeder region, delivering a quarter of the visitor total in the first quarter of 2016.

However, Western Europe was not far behind, with a 23% visitor share overall.

That’s despite challenging global market conditions and a strong US Dollar.

Helal Saeed Almarri, director general, Dubai Tourism, said: “Global travel in the first three months of this year has been impacted by geo-political, social and economic uncertainties, with most markets experiencing flat to negative growth.

“I see Dubai’s highly agile, fragmented source market approach, the strength of our government, public and private sector partnerships, as well as our effective promotional and marketing outreach, as having been fundamental to fuelling overall growth.”

There was further good news in the Dubai International Visitors Survey, which assesses the end-to-end tourist experience and rates how likely a visitor is to endorse Dubai as a must-visit destination.