All of this means that Dubai continues to rise in global rankings of destinations most visited by international travellers; Dubai was ranked in the top five alongside London, Bangkok, Paris, and Singapore (MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index 2014) and is on target to overtake to enter the top three in the next five years, based on current trends.
The report confirms that the top 10 feeder markets are vital for business and leisure, whilst emerging travel source countries for Dubai including China, Nigeria, Brazil, and Eastern Europe are growing strongly. So, the emirate has a good mix of visitors and a diversified set of source markets, who mainly come for leisure (59%) but also business (21%).
Digging deeper into the report gives us a clue as to where and how to focus marketing activity, to follow and help support Dubai’s overseas promotion and build guest visits to a property.
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For example, the female traveller segment is very buoyant and with the top source markets for female visitors to Dubai being the UK, Saudi Arabia, and India — confirmation that not all female visitors may be looking for the same visit experience. Dubai has the female-appeal factor women also stay longer, which adds to the segment’s attractiveness.
A great example of Dubai Tourism targeting women in its marketing is the ‘Girl’s Guide to Dubai’, produced specially for the Australian premium market and highlighting family- and female-friendly options.
Families represent 47% of total tourists to Dubai, and the average party size of 2.5 visitors sends a strong signal to the marketing department, (depending on the type and positioning of the hotel property, of course).
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