Dubai's population surges as tourists outnumber residents by five to one

Dubai's push to increase tourism is paying dividends as the emirate is ranked among the few global cities which attract more tourists than their population.
A study by UK-based travel firm On The Go Tours reveals that Dubai attracts 15.3 million tourists as compared to its just 2.7 million population, a swell of 459 per cent, third highest after Paris and Kuala Lumpur. This means there are over five tourists for each Dubai resident.
Home to the world's tallest tower Burj Khalifa and tallest hotel JW Marriott Marquis, Dubai kicked off 2017 in a high gear as the Dubai Tourism reported a stellar 11 per cent increase in visitors in the first quarter.
During January to March 2017, the emirate received 4.57 million travellers, achieving over double the growth achieved in the same quarter last year.

New official data published by Dubai Economy has projected that the local tourism is expected to grow five per cent and 5.1 per cent in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The emirate expects to receive 20 million tourists by 2020 while Expo 2020 event is likely to see 25 million visitors during the event.
A recent report produced by finance body ICAEW and Oxford Economics claimed that the UAE economy is benefitting from the growth in tourism sector at a better rate than other Gulf economies. According to On The Go Tours data, Paris tops with 2.2 million population receiving 18 million visitors which is an increase of 704 per cent followed by Kuala Lumpur with 1.7 million residents welcoming 12 million tourists, an increase of 595 per cent.
Among the other cities which receive more foreign tourists than the population of the city in terms of higher percentage are Milan, Barcelona, Prague, Vienna, Amsterdam, Taipei, Osaka, Bangkok, Rome, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Istanbul, New York and Shanghai, the data showed.
- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com