The number of visitors from Qatar to Dubai has increased by 26% in the first three months of this year compared with the figures during the same period in 2015, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has said.
The figure is part of Dubai’s 5.1% increase (4.1mn) in overnight visitors in the first quarter, backed by strong double digit growth from its top two proximity markets - the GCC and India.
The GCC continued to be the destination’s leading feeder region, delivering 25% of all overnight visitation to Dubai in the first three months of this year.
“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,” Dubai Tourism director general Helal Saeed al-Marri said in a statement.
He noted that an expanded festivals and events calendar and the opening of a number of new retail destinations and attractions helped in ensuring the return of visitors to Dubai.
Besides Qatar, visitors from Saudi Arabia also grew by 14% (476,000) from January to March, making it the number one source country. Oman is next with a 32% increase over the same period in 2015 with 322,000 visitors followed by Kuwait, which remained in the top 10, with 119,000 visitors.
Despite challenging global market conditions, and a strong US dollar, visitors from Western Europe continued to be the second largest source region with a 23% visitor share overall in the opening quarter of 2016.
This was led by 10% year-on-year quarter growth from the United Kingdom, which remained Dubai’s third largest country contributor with 334,000 visitors.
Rounding off the top five was Germany which brought in 171,000 visitors, rebounding strongly from a slow start in the new year. France, with 76,000 visitors, remained flat in the first quarter of 2015 while Italy grew by 5%, representing 69,000 visitors.
Other key countries in Dubai’s top 10 source markets for the first quarter included the US, which delivered 166,000 visitors; China, which was up by 4%; and Iran, which was the only market to see a decline. Rounding out the top 20, the Philippines saw 25% quarterly growth over the same period in 2015, Canadian visitors increased by 9%, countering declines across Egypt, Russia, Jordan, Australia and the Netherlands.