Last Updated on: 23rd July 2023, 02:50 am
Dubai’s Tourism Sector is Experiencing Unprecedented Growth in 2022
Dubai welcomed 14.36 million international overnight guests in 2022, up 97% from the 7.28 million tourist arrivals in 2021, according to the latest data released by the Dubai Department of Tourism, Economy and Tourism (DET).
The growth, which has seen the emirate outpace global and regional tourism recovery rates, contributes to the D33 target of the Dubai Economic Agenda launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates became ruler of Dubai to solidify Dubai’s status as one of the world’s top three cities for travel and business.
Approaching its 16.73 million pre-pandemic visitors in 2019, Dubai’s tourism performance in 2022 confirmed its ranking as the No. 1 global destination in Tripadvisor’s 2023 Travellers’ Choice Awards for the second consecutive year, only the second city in the Story to accomplish the feat.
The latest data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows that global tourist travel in 2022 was 37% lower than in 2019. The Middle East saw the largest relative increase, with arrivals reaching 83% of pre-pandemic levels.
Dubai has led the global and regional recovery barometers, with visitors to the city hitting 86% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022.
Dubai’s hospitality sector, which remains an integral part of the emirate’s destination promise and the overall growth of the tourism industry, has continued to perform well across all hospitality metrics.
Average hotel occupancy in 2022 was 73%, one of the highest in the world, up from 67% in 2021. That figure is just below the 75% occupancy seen in the pre-pandemic 2019 period.
Particularly noteworthy is the high occupancy rate, which was achieved in 2022 compared to 2019 despite a 16% increase in the number of rooms.
Dubai’s hotel inventory at the end of December 2022 was 146,496 rooms across 804 properties, compared to 126,120 rooms available at the end of December 2019 across 741 properties.
The total number of hotels in 2022 saw a 6% growth compared to 2021, with 755 hotels offering 137,950 rooms, figures showing continued investor confidence in Dubai’s tourism sector.
The hotel industry surpassed pre-pandemic levels on all other key metrics: occupied nights, average daily rate (ADR), and revenue per available room (RevPAR). Busy nights hit a record 37.43 million nights in 2022, a 19% increase from 2021 (31.47 million) and a 17% increase in the period before the 2019 pandemic, which hit 32.11 million busy nights caused.
The ADR of AED 536 in 2022 exceeded the ADRs of 2021 (AED 451) and 2019 (AED 415) with increases of 19% and 29% respectively. The hotel sector’s strong performance is also reflected in its RevPAR growth: a 30% increase since 2021 (AED 391 vs. AED 301) and a 25% increase since pre-pandemic 2019 (RevPAR of AED 312).
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