Benefiting from its perception as a safe haven in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring, Dubai enjoyed a strong rise in tourist arrivals in 2011. Official figures released this week showed that Dubai hosted 9.3 million hotel guests and cruise passengers in 2011, a rise of 10 per cent compared with the previous year's total. Out of this, 7,262,730 guests stayed with hotels, up from 6,561,999 recorded in 2010.
The number of guest nights climbed by 23 per cent to nearly 33 million last year, with hotel apartments contributing 9.5 million guest nights last year compared to 7.5 million in 2010. The data also showed that the average length of stay rose 12 per cent to 3.6 days, helping to boost revenues by 20 per cent to nearly Dhs16 billion, as per a report on AMEinfo.com. Hotels and hotel apartments' occupancy averaged 74 per cent during the year, the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing of Dubai (DTCM) said, adding that the improved performance was the result of "aggressive" marketing and promotional initiatives. Khalid A bin Sulayem, Director General, DTCM said, "We have been successful in boosting the number of tourists to Dubai due to our initiatives to enhance our position in established markets and tap new and emerging tourism source markets. The substantial gains by hotels and hotel apartments reflect, once again, the vibrancy and dynamism of the tourism industry in the emirate.” He said the contribution of cruise tourism to Dubai tourism industry's growth has also increased last year. In 2011, Saudi Arabia was the top source market for Dubai's tourism industry with 873,152 guests, followed by India (702,142), UK (643,196), Iran (476,708) and the US (462,653). Germany ranked sixth with 275,663 guests, while Kuwait and Russia achieved the seventh and eighth positions with 273,253 and 255,746 guests, respectively. Oman was ninth on the list with 223,993 guests followed by Pakistan (221,374).
Click here to see the original article>The number of guest nights climbed by 23 per cent to nearly 33 million last year, with hotel apartments contributing 9.5 million guest nights last year compared to 7.5 million in 2010. The data also showed that the average length of stay rose 12 per cent to 3.6 days, helping to boost revenues by 20 per cent to nearly Dhs16 billion, as per a report on AMEinfo.com. Hotels and hotel apartments' occupancy averaged 74 per cent during the year, the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing of Dubai (DTCM) said, adding that the improved performance was the result of "aggressive" marketing and promotional initiatives. Khalid A bin Sulayem, Director General, DTCM said, "We have been successful in boosting the number of tourists to Dubai due to our initiatives to enhance our position in established markets and tap new and emerging tourism source markets. The substantial gains by hotels and hotel apartments reflect, once again, the vibrancy and dynamism of the tourism industry in the emirate.” He said the contribution of cruise tourism to Dubai tourism industry's growth has also increased last year. In 2011, Saudi Arabia was the top source market for Dubai's tourism industry with 873,152 guests, followed by India (702,142), UK (643,196), Iran (476,708) and the US (462,653). Germany ranked sixth with 275,663 guests, while Kuwait and Russia achieved the seventh and eighth positions with 273,253 and 255,746 guests, respectively. Oman was ninth on the list with 223,993 guests followed by Pakistan (221,374).