International tourists placed Dubai in the fourth position among the places that they want to visit. This information was revealed by the MasterCard Destinations this year. The UAE expects to welcome around 14.3 million visitors, which is 8% more than the previous year.
Since 2009, a list of 132 most visited countries has been published by the Index. An analysis of the patterns is what helps researchers organize the order of the countries. London took the first place of the Index and Bangkok was in the 2nd place followed by Paris. In 2012, the UAE was in the 8th place. It went up to the 7th position in 2013. Last year, it was in 5th position and now, this year, Dubai proudly takes on to the fourth place.
Emirates experienced more overnight international visitor spending per resident than any other in the list. The study shows that the approximate amount is $4,668. The UAE spotted 5.7 visitors in every resident. It was attracting the most number of visitors per resident in both the African region and the Middle East. Top five cities which are the origin cities of UAE are Muscat, Doha, Kuwait, and Jeddah.
Moreover, Dubai has raised its rank in resilience, along with 17 other feeder cities. This is for 50% of the international visitors. This number points at the variety of the tourists that this city has, making the tourism of the city more sustained.
The global economic advisor of MasterCard, Wong, said that this role of international visitors plays an important impact in boosting the economy in cities around the world. He added that the global economy is still uneven and the significance of export is fragile. This increase in the international tourist and their expenses on this city, may make a big difference in contributing to the economy, income, and employment.
Dubai was the only city coming from the MEA into the top ten list of the air hub of the Index, it was in the 3rd place.
MasterCard also guesses that this year, 383 million overnight trips will be conducted by international tourists among the 132 countries of the Index. The tourists will be spending 360 billion dollars during their travels.
Dubai is getting ready for its tourists and has invested a lot. It aims to attract 20 million tourists by 2020. The UAE wishes to see five million more tourists in 2020, as it will be hosting the Expo 2020.
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