Dubai is one of the world's leading tourism destinations, and tourism in Dubai is a major source of revenue. The city hosted 14.9 million overnight visitors in 2016. In 2018, Dubai was the fourth most-visited city in the world based on the number of international visitors.
History
The discovery of oil in 1966 kick-started the development of present Dubai, however Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum (ruler from 1958 till 1990) realised one day Dubai would run out of oil and started building an economy that would outlast it. A quote commonly attributed to Sheikh Rashid reflected his concern that Dubai's oil, which was discovered in 1966 and which began production in 1969, would run out within a few generations. Sheikh Rashid stated "My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel". Sheikh Rashid realized early he needed to diversify the emirate of Dubai's economy by building on the city's trading history and therefore he set out to establish Dubai as the region's trade and service hub. By 1979, he was successful in establishing the Jebel Ali Port, which became the logical shipping centre for the entire United Arab Emirates and the world's largest man-made port. He also upgraded Dubai International Airport and built the Dubai World Trade Centre, which was then the tallest building in the Middle East. By the end of the 1970's, the stage was set for the diversification of Dubai's economy away from oil and into other areas such as tourism.
In 1989 the Dubai Commerce and Tourism Promotion Board was established, to promote Dubai as a luxury destination for the up-tier market and influential business sectors. In January 1997, it was replaced with the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).
In May 2013, the government of Dubai launched the Dubai Tourism Strategy 2020, with the key objective to attract 20 million visitors a year by 2020 and making Dubai a first choice destination for international leisure travellers as well as business travellers. In 2018, the strategy was expanded by setting new goals of attracting 21-23 million visitors in 2022 and 23-25 million visitors by 2025. The key objectives from 2013 and 2018 were not met due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The need to maintain its tourism industry has hampered Dubai’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with COVID-19 Dubai’s tourism sector has also been hurt by a greater international awareness of the status of human rights in the emirate and in particular the treatment of Princess Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum.
In November 2022, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid announced a national tourism strategy until 2031. The goal of the strategy is to attract Dh 100 billion in additional tourism investments (so that the tourism sector’s contribution will be Dh450bn of DUbai's GDP in 2031) and receive 40 million hotel guests in 2031. The strategy includes 25 initiatives and policies to support the development of the tourism sector in the country.
Visitors and visitor spending
Since 1982, Dubai continued to be one of the fastest growing destinations for tourists. In 2002, visitors were mainly from other Gulf Cooperation Council members which accounted for 34% of tourists, South Asia accounted for 25%, other Arab states 16%, Europe 15%, and Africa 9%. In 2003, revenue from tourism exceeded $1 billion and surpassed oil revenues to directly and indirectly account for over 17% and 28% of GDP respectively.
From January to June 2019 8.36 million international tourists visited Dubai. Most of the visitors were from India (997.000) followed by Saudi Arabia (755.000) and the United Kingdom (586,000).
Mastercard's Global Destination Cities Index 2019 found that tourists spend more in Dubai than in any other country. In 2018, the country topped the list for the fourth year in a row with a total spend of $30.82 billion, a 3.8% increase over 2017 ($29.70 billion). The average spend per day was $553.
In 2019, Dubai attracted a total of 16.73 million tourists, which was an increase of 5.09% on the previous year. However, in 2020, the number of visitors dropped to 5.51 million due to the coronavirus pandemic.