The BMI report forecasts that overseas arrivals in the UAE during 2012 will climb to 9 million, a healthy 9 percent increase on the 8.2 million tourists that arrived in the UAE last year.
Echoing that sentiment, Arabian Travel Market (ATM), the leading travel exhibition in the Middle East, is witnessing strong online visitor interest ahead of this year’s event, with the number of pre-registered visitors already up 132 percent from the same time last year.
“With unrest particularly in Egypt and North Africa last year, the UAE experienced an influx of tourism, boosting its status as a regional safe haven,” said Mark Walsh, Portfolio Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.
“With Emirates and Etihad opening-up at least 10 more destinations between them this year, not including low cost options FlyDubai, and Air Arabia, future tourism growth is assured,” he added.
Guest numbers at Dubai hotels rose 10 percent year-on-year to nearly 4.6 million for the first half of 2011, BMI said, as more visitors from the Middle East traveled to the UAE.
A record number of guests also checked into hotels in Abu Dhabi last year, according to latest figures released by Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).
More than 2.1 million guests checked into hotels in the country’s capital, beating an official target by 100,000 and the previous record high of around 1.8 million in 2010.
Despite a large increase in the number of available rooms, Dubai was the sole tourist destination in the region that has shown a rise in both occupancy and revenue per available room (RevPAR) in 2011, with increases of 4 percent and 4.5 percent respectively, according to a recent report by Ernst & Young.
According to another report by STR, the UAE is leading the region in development projects with 21,238 rooms under development and tourism initiatives underway across all the emirates including Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Ras Al-Khaimah.
“With oil prices stable at around $100 per barrel, the oil-exporting Gulf states are witnessing greater fiscal stability and investing billions of dollars into tourism infrastructure,” he added.
