Guest numbers across all hotel establishments in the first half of the year reached 5,583,379, an 11.1 percent increase on the 5,027,223 in the first half of 2012.
Dubai’s top 10 tourism source markets remained the same as those for the first half of 2012, with Saudi Arabia, India, UK, USA, Russia, Germany, Kuwait, Oman, China and Iran topping the list.
Despite already being Dubai’s primary source market, Saudi Arabia also experienced the most growth, with visitor numbers swelling by 31.6 percent to 710,472.
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Australia (ranked 13th) also recorded a strong rise in visitor numbers, with growth rates of 24.3 percent reflecting the increased flight volume resulting from the partnership between Emirates Airline and Qantas, formalised in April.
Guests from the world’s two most populous nations, China (ranked 9th) and India (ranked 2nd), continued to show strong increases, with visitors from both markets up by 15.8 percent.
Almarri added: “Saudi Arabia, China and India are markets which DTCM has put significant focus on, as we believe they provide substantial opportunities for growth. DTCM has conducted a number of roadshows, participated in a range of events and operated specific campaigns in these markets to ensure that Dubai is positioned as a destination of choice.
"With regards to Australia, the partnership between Emirates and Qantas has clearly had a highly positive impact and DTCM has been working closely with both airlines to maximise the opportunities the partnership provides to increase the amount of visitors from both Australia and the other markets which the partnership opens up.”
In the first six months of the year, the average length of stay across hotels and hotel apartments was 3.89 days – a rise on the average 3.82 day stay in H1 2012.
Almarri said: “The growth recorded in the first half of the year is on target for our medium-term plans, and most importantly, it is sustainable.
"We’re seeing continued growth in the quantity and breadth of hotels and hotel apartments designed to meet the increased demand from travellers; and the recently introduced changes to the hotel classification system provide greater clarity for both operators and tourists.”
Total guest nights also recorded rises, up 13.1 percent to 21,715,848 from 19,209,037 – or more than 2.5m additional guest nights from January to June 2013 when compared to the first six months of 2012.
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