Dubai, in the UAE, is proving a major draw for British tourists as a travel destination. The number of tourists travelling to Dubai has increased in 2012 from 2011, bucking the trend for the general decline in outbound travel.
The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has announced an 11 percent increase in guest numbers from the UK, during the second quarter of 2012, compared to the same period last year.
A DTCM report suggests that in the 2012 second quarter, hotel and apartment bookings in Dubai have increased to 170,452, from 154,180 for the same period in 2011. The average stay of travellers from the UK has also increased by 5 percent in the second quarter of 2012, from that in the same quarter of 2011, with many British travellers choosing to stay in Dubai for around seven nights.
Ian Scott, the director of DTCM for UK and Ireland, said, ‘We are delighted with the UK results for quarter two, and confident that visitor numbers will continue to be positive throughout the year.
Increasingly, families are realising that Dubai can offer them a fun and affordable family holiday with a relatively short flight time of only seven hours.’
Most travellers to Dubai prefer self-catering apartments, and rentals have seen an increase of around 33 percent in the 2012 second quarter, compared to same time last year.
Dubai currently has more new hotel rooms in the process of being developed than any other destination in the Middle East or Africa, with a number of new properties slated to open in 2012.
