Dubai Tourism says that it has now surpassed the previous highs of tourist arrivals in the emirate, last recorded in 2019, adding that it is well enroute to finish the current year as the one with a new record.

According to a press statement Dubai Tourism’s May 2023 data recorded 7.39 million international visits in the period January-May 2023, marginally higher than the 7.16 million arrivals recorded in the same period of 2019.

The Emirate says that a majority of its top 20 source markets were all ahead of May 2019 levels too. Driving the growth for Dubai were the 1.038 million Indian visitors, who exceeded the previous high of 864,000 recorded in Jan-May 2019 by 17 pc and a hefty 47 pc growth over the 707,000 arrivals from India in 2022, says Dubai Tourism.

Russia is the second largest source market this year, with 554,000 visitors, a growth of 104 pc over 2022 and 53 pc over 2019. The United Kingdom is the third biggest market, with 488,000 visitors, about 9 pc higher than in 2022, but still 5 pc below the 2019 peaks.

Saudi Arabia is the fourth biggest market for Dubai, with 442,000 visitors from the Gulf Kingdom, though it was 5 pc below the 2022 levels and 24 pc below the 2019 peak of 584,000 visitors.

Recently, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing CEO Issam Kazim told the emirate’s hospitality leaders that he wanted to convert holiday-makers into residents.

“Today we have two new KPIs. We want to make sure Dubai continues to be one of the best cities to work in, and more importantly, one of the best cities in the world to live in,” Kazim said.