Dubai welcomed a record more than 8 million international overnight tourists during the first six months of 2018, representing a consistent increase on the same period last year.

Figures released by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) have confirmed the continued success of the emirate’s tourism sector, which at the end of 2017 was worth AED109 billion a year.

A destination of choice for a number of global markets, Dubai is on track for projected growth into the second half of 2018.

Top source markets continued to witness stable year-on-year performances in the first half of 2018, with India, KSA and the UK retaining their top three positions when compared to the same period last year. India again brought in the highest number of international guests, once again crossing the 1-million-mark over a six-month period, up by three per cent year-on-year.

KSA and the UK retained their spots as the second and third largest feeder markets respectively, with the former rallying to a slight increase and remaining as the highest traffic driver from the GCC region. China ended the first half of 2018 in fourth place, continuing its upward trajectory by nine per cent to deliver 453,000 tourists.

Meanwhile, Russia topped the growth charts with a stellar 74 per cent increase over H1 2017, delivering 405,000 visitors to jump five positions within the top ten source markets. Both markets continued to benefit from added ease of travel access following the introduction of visa-on-arrival facilities for Chinese and Russian citizens in late 2016 and early 2017 respectively.

Dubai Business Events (DBE), the city’s official convention bureau, has reported strong results for the first half of 2018, with 125 successful bids to host business events, reflecting a 29 per cent increase from the same period last year.

Conferences, meetings and incentive programmes secured in the first six months of the year, including from bids submitted in previous years, are poised to attract over 65,000 delegates from around the world, resulting in an expected economic impact of approximately AED 500 million, further cementing Dubai’s position as a leading global business events destination.

Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “Dubai’s success in attracting an increasing number of business events is a testament to the city’s ability, across the public and private sectors, to coalesce together to position it on a global stage. Dubai Business Events has worked closely with stakeholders to ensure the city is able to optimise its bidding opportunities, highlighting not only the tourism and events infrastructure, but also the knowledge exchange possibilities in Dubai. We thank all our partners and look forward to working with them to build on our collective efforts to contribute to our ambitious tourism targets.”