Dubai: Saudis have topped the list of visitors to the UAE with record-breaking numbers – over one million, as a matter of fact.
Dr. Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Bishr, ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the UAE, confirmed in a statement released by the state news agency Wam, that the UAE makes them, “feel at home,” and that as many as one million Saudis visited the emirates in 2015.
The statement said: “Ambassador Al Bishr noted that when the Saudi visitors come to the UAE they actually feel at home as if visiting any other Saudi city.”
Al Bishr also said that Saudis chose to visit because of the “social relations, common traditions and customs between the two peoples, as well as services and safety provided by the host, whether in Abu Dhabi or Dubai.”
The UAE is rising high in terms of popularity, which is not limited to tourists from Saudi Arabia.
The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in Dubai recently revealed that Dubai received 14.2 million tourists in 2015, indicating a jump of 7.5 per cent from 2014.
In terms of regions, the Gulf came in as the top performing, with Saudi Arabia as the top source market in the GCC region. The second highest performing region is Western Europe followed by South Asia.
2015 in Numbers
Top 5 Source Markets from January to December 2015:
1. India: 1.6 million visitors
2. KSA: 1.5million visitors
3. UK: 1.1million visitors
4. Oman: 1 million visitors
5. US: 602,000 visitors
Top 3 performing regions
GCC – 23 per cent of total visitors
Western Europe – 21 per cent of total visitors
South Asia – 16 per cent of total visitors
2016 in Numbers
Top 5 Source Markets from January to July:
1. India: 974,000
2. KSA: 921,000
3. Oman: 695,000
4. UK: 689,000
5. US: 348,000
Total number of visitors to Dubai from Jan-Jul 2016: 8.37 Million
Source: Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai
