UAE to welcome 8.92m visitors from top five source markets by 2023, says ATM research

The UAE is set to welcome 8.92 million visitors from the top five source markets by 2023, according to research by Arabian Travel Market, ATM.

According to data published ahead of ATM, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 28th April to 1st May, 2019, Expo 2020 and its legacy, District 2020, is expected to have a positive long-term influence on the growth of inbound arrivals to the UAE from the country’s top five source markets between 2018 and 2023.

Looking at the country’s top three source markets, the number of Indian visitors travelling to the UAE will increase at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of seven percent to 3.01 million in 2023, while arrivals from Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, UK, will witness an increase of two percent and one percent to 1.76 million and 1.28 million respectively over the same period.

While the UAE’s top source market rankings are expected to remain mostly unchanged post-Expo 2020 – the latest research from Colliers International, in partnership with ATM, reveals the Russian and Chinese source markets will show above average annual growth rates for inbound passenger arrivals.

Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director Middle East, Arabian Travel Market, said, "The number of Russian tourists travelling to the UAE will increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12 percent to 1.6 million in 2023, while the number of Chinese tourists visiting the UAE will increase at a CAGR of eight percent to 1.27 million over the same period, according to the data."

Looking to acquire their share of these high-growth markets at ATM 2019, will be the tourism boards from the UAE’s seven emirates with major exhibits from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Ajman and Fujairah as well as over 93 other UAE exhibitors such as Emirates, Emaar Hospitality Group and Dubai Airports Corporation.

Curtis said, "Taking a look at the other key drivers, besides Expo 2020, Russian visitors to the UAE have grown in recent years, due to the introduction of additional and direct airline routes. Russian visitors also now benefit from relaxed UAE visa regulations and rising oil prices are helping to strengthen the Russian rouble, making the UAE more affordable.

"Regarding Chinese visitors, according to some analysts, China’s middle class will swell to 338 million households by 2020, a 13 percent increase in just five years. Moreover, by 2030 35 percent of China’s 1.4 billion population will have US$10,000 of annual disposable income, up 10 percent from 2018. Therefore, the growth potential for both markets is significant."

With 20 million annual visitors expected to visit Dubai by 2020, plus an additional five million between October 2020 and April 2021 – 70 percent of which will come from outside the UAE – the overall hospitality supply in the emirate is expected to increase by 39 percent from 59,561 keys in 2017 to 82,994 in 2021 to meet this demand.

Meanwhile, in the neighbouring emirate Abu Dhabi, the number of rooms across three, four and five-star properties are forecast to grow 13 percent from 21,782 in 2017 to 24,565 in 2021.

"Just as Dubai and Abu Dhabi have their own unique set of visitor attractions, we are now seeing the northern emirates carving stronger identities, supported by their respective tourism authorities. And, while Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Fujairah are smaller than Dubai and Abu Dhabi in terms of supply, they are evolving quickly," Curtis said.

Ras Al Khaimah is working on an unprecedented pipeline, which will more than double the number of hotel rooms, from 4,019 in 2017 to 9,078 in 2021, the largest proportionate pipeline in the GCC.

The number of hotel rooms in Sharjah is also expected to more than double between 2017 and 2021, taking the total number of hotel rooms in the emirate to 5,295 by 2021. Meanwhile, Fujairah will add almost 500 keys over the same period taking its total stock to 2,543 rooms.

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