Russia Is Now Dubai’s No. 2 Source Market
Photo Credit: Russia is the second largest tourism source market for Dubai. Pexels / tommaso picone
Skift Take
Dubai's decision to open its doors to sanction-hit Russians has helped the emirate welcome a record number of visitors from the country.
Middle East Travel Roundup
Get the latest news from the Middle East in one easy-to-digest newsletter.Dubai welcomed 1.47 million overnight visitors in January as Russia went on to be the second largest tourism source market for the emirate. Registering a 63 percent increase over 2022, for the emirate, 115,000 Russians visited Dubai for tourism. The highest number of international guests were from India at 186,000, while the third-biggest source market was Saudi Arabia with 98,000 visitors. Skift had earlier mentioned in an article how Dubai has proved to be a safe haven for sanction-hit Russians wanting to flee the country. During the year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, air traffic between Moscow and Dubai grew at a whopping 228 percent compared to pre-pandemic, according to travel analytics firm ForwardKeys. While Dubai's 1.47 million overnight visitors in January is lower compared to 2019's 1.6 million, it is 50 percent above January 2022's 980,000 visitors.
Business travel spend in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels
