Number of Dubai tourists down in 2009

The number of holidaymakers going to Dubai dropped during the first three quarters of 2009 as the global economic recession resulted in fewer tourists from Europe. According to the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) report that was published by the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), visitor numbers were down 5.7 per cent from January to September of last year compared with the same time in 2008.

However, Sean Tipton, a spokesman of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), commented that Dubai’s drop-off in tourist numbers is actually quite healthy compared with other countries.

The UK, which is still recovering from the recent economic downturn, has long been UAE’s biggest market for tourists. Tipton informed that Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey were the only destinations that successfully experienced boost in UK tourists from last year despite of the financial crisis because they were favourite short-haul destinations among Brits.

Tourism is a vital part of Dubai’s economy, contributing at least 19 per cent to UAE’s GDP in 2008. Attracting about 7.5 million hotel bookers during that year, the country is targeting to double the figure by 2015.

Meanwhile, country data shows a fall of 1.3 per cent in international hotel guests for the first nine months of 2009, as compared to the same period a year ago. Moreover, foreign tourist arrivals vaguely dropped by 4 per cent in 2009 to 880 million, mainly blamed to the global financial slump and worries over swine flu. But Dubai’s figures were far better than earlier anticipated.