Dubai's Summer of Tourism Was Red-Hot as Russians Fill the City

Dubai continues to pull ahead of its pre-pandemic tourism numbers. The emirate drew in 9.8 million international travelers up to July this year, according to the latest data from Dubai Tourism. For the same period in 2019, Dubai had 9.6 million international visitors, and in 2022, welcomed 8.1 million up to that point.

The data displays all the typical flocks coming into the city – India up to July 2023 accounted for 1.4 million travelers, the city’s perennial largest tourism driver. Russia also remained comfortable in the second spot, with 673,000 travelers coming from the country since July.

Travel from Russia has boomed in Dubai, increasing 93% from a year earlier, with many Russians – the wealthy ones at least – settling in Dubai amid conflict in their own country.

Average daily rates in the city’s 800-plus hotels were 508 dirhams (approximately $138), 20% higher than July 2019’s 422 dirhams (approx. $114).

While a million travelers ahead of where it was at the same time last year, the city is still behind its previous aspirations set before the pandemic. Before Covid-19 struck, the emirate had set out to reach 20 million travelers by 2020, and it managed to hit 16.73 million for 2019.

After the pandemic, Dubai authorities focused on surpassing its 2019 figures. With 9.7 million travelers in the seventh month of this year, the city is averaging 1.4 million travelers a month, whereas it would need a 1.7 million per month average to hit 20 million annually.

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