Having a good time still the dominant reason tourists flock to Dubai
dubai — Around three-fourths of tourists visiting Dubai come for leisure, followed by those visiting friends and relatives, revealed official figures released on Sunday.
As many as 73.8 per cent of tourists travelled to Dubai for leisure purposes, while those visiting friends and relatives made up 13.9 per cent of the total followed, by 11.5 per cent business travellers, according to Dubai Tourism figures released on the eve of Arabian Travel Market 2018 taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Figures showed that 3 out of 4 visitors were families and couples, with individuals making up 14 per cent, friends 8 per cent, and colleagues 3 per cent of total visitation. Guests visiting friends and relatives last year stayed for an average of 15.3 days, down 2.1 days compared to 2016. Around 77 per cent of visitors chose to stay in paid accommodation last year, as opposed to staying with friends and relatives, it said.
Among the landmarks, The Dubai Mall remained the city’s most popular attraction, drawing 97 per cent of visitors, followed by the Dubai Fountain with 81 per cent, and heritage and cultural districts with 63 per cent, Dubai Tourism said in its annual report.
In 2017, Dubai received 15.8 million visitors, achieving a growth of 6.2 per cent over the previous year. India was the top market with 2.1 million visitors, followed by Saudi Arabia (1.5 million), the UK (1.3 million), China (764,000) and Russia (530,000).
The average tourist length of stay increased 0.3 days to reach a total of 6.2 days.
Surpassing 2016 ratings,