The officials in Dubai have announced that the emirate hopes to attract about 5.5 million overseas visitors this year. Issam Kazim, Tourism chief executive of Dubai, said that he hoped the new markets could help make up for the loss of travellers from major outbound markets where travel still continues to be restricted.
Located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai is one of the seven emirates that form this country. This city is known for its skyscrapers, ports, beaches, shopping, gorgeous architecture, and nightlife, attracting tourists from around the globe. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has faced a loss in the tourism industry.
The Emirate of Dubai had welcomed 5.5 million overseas visitors in 2020, compared to 16.7 million visitors in 2019.
India visitors, a traditional top source market, have mainly been banned from the United Arab Emirates due to the latest outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the South-Asian country.
Meanwhile, the third biggest source market in 2019, the United Kingdom, has also banned direct flights and requires visitors from the UAE to hotel quarantine.
Kazim said the number of visitors from newer markets in Europe, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were functioning well.
“All of these markets will start to add up and hopefully fill the gaps and give us a much stronger foundation to build a confident rebound going forward,” he noted.
In July last year, the Middle Eastern destination reopened its borders for international travellers and was a popular holiday spot throughout the New Year.
With Dubai Expo 2020 set to start in October this year, there are hopes for the recovery of the tourism sector in the coming months.
