Dubai Almost Recovered Its Pre-Pandemic Tourist Flow

May 18, 2023

Dubai welcomed 4.67 million foreign tourists in the first quarter of the year, which is 2% lower than the same pre-pandemic period in 2019, according to the press service of the Dubai Department of Economic Development and Tourism.

“In the first quarter of 2023, the number of foreign tourists who stayed in Dubai hotels for at least one night amounted to 4.67 million people. This figure is 17% higher than the same period in 2022, when the emirate was visited by 3.97 million people, and represents the best result for the first quarter since the pandemic,” the statement said.

The department highlights that such growth in tourist influx makes Dubai one of the fastest-recovering international tourism destinations in the world.

“In the first quarter of 2019, Dubai was visited by 4.75 million people. In the first quarter of 2023, the number of tourists reached 98% of this figure, surpassing the forecast of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, which stated that the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe and the Middle East countries this year should range from 80% to 95% of the pre-pandemic level,” the statement added.

The growth in tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2023 was driven by Dubai’s traditional markets, most of which showed significant increases.

“Four regions have fully recovered and exceeded the first quarter 2019 levels: CIS and Eastern Europe by 48%, Middle East and North Africa by 32%, North and South America by 9%, and Australasia by 2%. South Asia and Western Europe are also close to achieving pre-pandemic results,” the department noted.

The average hotel occupancy rate in the emirate during this period was 83%, nearly matching the level of the first quarter of 2019, despite a 26% increase in the number of hotel rooms to 148.9 thousand over the four years.