Record number of Indian tourists visit Dubai this year

The number of Indian tourists to Dubai has hit a new high with the Emirate saying that "India continued to top the list of traffic generators". Indian visitors to Dubai for the first time crossed the 10-lakh mark over the last six months (January-June), up 21% when compared to the same interval last year.

The Dubai skyline.
The Dubai skyline. Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia

"A record total of 80.6 lakh international overnight tourists arrived in Dubai during the first six months of 2017, reflecting a 10.6% increase over the same period last year," said a statement by Dubai Tourism.

"Almost all of Dubai's top 20 inbound visitor source markets saw positive or near stable year-on-year performances in the first half of 2017, with five of the top 10 delivering standout double-digit growth. India continued to top the list of traffic generators…. Saudi Arabia and the UK retained their spots as the second and third largest feeder markets respectively," it added.

Dubai Tourism DG Helal Saeed Almarri said, "We are extremely pleased that Dubai has sustained the momentum of growth we achieved in the first quarter to deliver a strong double-digit performance through H1 2017… our goal now is to ensure that the city builds on this positive trajectory through not just the remainder of 2017 but also further, to get us closer to our Tourism Vision 2020 target of 2 crore annual tourist arrivals."