(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) China, Russia move up rankings as key source markets for inbound tourism to Dubai. Dubai recorded a significant jump in tourist traffic in the first two months of 2017 on the back of a sudden surge in Chinese and Russian visitors following the introduction of free on-arrival visas for both nationalities.
The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) reported a stellar 12 per cent year-on-year growth across the first two months of 2017, which saw Dubai welcoming just over three million visitors.
The growth in numbers was nearly four times the rate of the previous year, giving a key indication that Dubai is on track to surpass its target of hitting 20 million visitors by 2020.
"Supported by growth in all key markets, China and Russia in particular drove the volumes and set the stage for a strong first quarter result. This period witnessed a 60 per cent growth in overnight tourists from China, with January alone peaking at a dramatic 102 per cent, while attracting a total of 157,000 Chinese visitors across just the first two months," a statement from Dubai Tourism said.
Visitor traffic from Russia jumped 84 per cent over the same period last year, with February delivering a massive 140 per cent volume increase to bring a total of 65,000 travellers in the first two months, Dubai Tourism said.
Source markets
China and Russia also moved up in their rankings as key source markets for inbound tourism to Dubai, with China entering the top four for the first time and Russia moving to just outside the top 10, up four places from 15.
Dubai Tourism's promotional efforts in China for Chinese New Year and Russia for the pre-spring break were strongly stimulated by the positive regulatory changes allowing both countries visa-on-arrival status into the emirates. With Chinese travellers being able to enter Dubai without the cost and time of procuring visas in advance since November 2016 and Russian nationals getting similar privileges in February 2017, the importance of 'ease and convenience' of access in driving tourism traffic is evident in the immediate results following the policy changes, according to the statement.
Helal Saeed Almarri, Director-General, Dubai Tourism, said his department's focus is on increasing Dubai's accessibility and removing barriers to travel by working closely with partners and stakeholders in the public and private sectors on both a federal and emirate level. "Ultimately, our collective aim is to make it as easy and seamless as possible for any prospective tourist from our diversified base of source markets to visit and revisit Dubai."
He said Dubai Tourism works closely with the government on initiatives to drive increased visitation, and the decision by the UAE leadership to offer visas on arrival to Chinese and Russian guests has already proven an astute one.
"Dubai Tourism has invested significant efforts in marketing Dubai as an appealing destination for visitors from China and Russia, and we are encouraged to see such promising results," said Almarri.
"As 2017 progresses, we expect to capitalise on Dubai's additional hotel room supply at various price points, as well as the recent openings of attractions such as IMG Worlds of Adventure, the world's largest indoor theme park, and Dubai Parks and Resorts, the region's largest integrated theme park resort to drive continued high performance from the sector," said Almarri.
He pointed out that Dubai has progressively improved its 'China Readiness' at an overall city level across all aspects of the tourist journey - particularly across infrastructure components and key pillars of the destination proposition. Some examples of steps taken include increasing the number of Mandarin-speaking customer service representatives for tourism-related activities across the emirate, widening acceptance of Chinese payment systems, allocating culturally trained staff in hotels, malls and attractions dedicated to inbound Chinese groups, providing additional food and beverage outlets catering to their tastes, and making Mandarin-language maps available at attractions and shopping malls throughout the city.
The Russian market has retained its trajectory of recovery that commenced last year, following a prolonged period of economic instability that resulted in a marked drop in Russian outbound travel. Having posted a year-on-year increase of 14 per cent in overnight visitation in 2016, the dramatic spike in 2017 so far is a strong indicator of the positive sentiment for outbound travel from the market, and more specifically the strong consideration for Dubai among couples and families.
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Issac John Associate Business Editor of Khaleej Times, is a well-connected Indian journalist and an economic and financial commentator. He has been in the UAE's mainstream journalism for 35 years, including 23 years with Khaleej Times. A post-graduate in English and graduate in economics, he has won over two dozen awards. Acclaimed for his authentic and insightful analysis of global and regional businesses and economic trends, he is respected for his astute understanding of the local business scene.
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