Dubai has 10 million visitors in 2012

These results were recently announced by Dubai's Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM), with increases being seen in crucial key indicator areas, including hotel guest numbers, average length of stay and hotel revenues; all of which strengthen Dubai's position as one of the most popular tourist destinations worldwide.

The director general of DTCM, HE Helal Almarri, commented: "For the first time in our city's history we have crossed the 10 million threshold in visitor numbers. This continual year-on-year growth is due to a number of factors including the co-ordinated city-wide destination management strategy, our world-class infrastructure, our location at the crossroads of east and west, along with our unrelenting efforts to enhance our already diverse and compelling tourism offer."

Key indicators of Dubai's successful 2012 include:

• 10.16 million hotel establishment guests (hotels & hotel apartments) and cruise passengers for 2012, showing an increase of 9.3% year on year.
  
• Hotel establishment guests up to 9.96 million, an increase of 9.5% from its 2011 figures.
  
• Hotel establishment guest nights increased by 14% from 32.8 million in 2011 to 37.4 million in 2012.
  
• An increase of 4.1% in the length of stay in hotel establishments, year on year to 3.76 nights.
  
• The increase in revenue in hotel establishments from AED 15.97 billion in 2011 to AED 18.82 billion in 2012 - an increase of 17.9%.

Commenting on the key indicator figures released, HE Helal Almarri said: "The growth across each indicator is a welcome confirmation of Dubai's ever-increasing appeal and a testament to the aggressive marketing and promotional agenda of DTCM in positioning Dubai as the major tourist hub of the region and a global destination of choice. The increasing average length of stay and the rising number of hotel apartments is evidence of the growing trend of people and families visiting Dubai for longer periods - historically the city was seen by some markets as a stopover destination, but in recent years has become the destination."

SA visitors up by 16%

Arab countries still provide for a large percentage of Dubai's growth, with Saudi Arabia increasing its visitors by 29%. South Africa showed a solid increase of 16% in terms of its number of guests, with 89 601 guests visiting the City of Merchants in 2012 compared to 77 189 in 2011. The number of guest nights also increased by an impressive 18%, with 311 515 recorded in 2012 compared to 263 360 guest nights in 2011.

"We are extremely pleased with the increase in visitor numbers from South Africa in 2012. What tends to make Dubai so popular with the South African market is not only the value for money as an overseas destination, but also the varied and diverse attractions which appeal to the entire family," commented Bailey Gorst of DTCM South Africa.

And Dubai still continues to evolve and grow, with 24 new hotel establishments having opened their doors in 2012, including five-star international chain properties such as the Jumeirah Creekside, Fairmont The Palm and the JW Marriott Marquis.

Dubai seems set for a bumper 2013 too, with properties scheduled to hit the market in 2013 including the Sofitel Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa as well as The Oberoi Dubai, situated on Sheikh Zayed Road.