Dubai makes a comeback in tourism

Dubai set to grow 5% this year and at an even faster clip at 6% in 2012. Dubai's tourism may benefit as international visitors choose the safe-haven emirate over other troubled regional tourist destinations, notes Citibank. The affordability of Dubai and the emirate's political stability have helped the city's comeback as a tourist destination, says a new report. Tourism body IATA's data shows air traffic to both Egypt and Tunisia fell by 100,000, meanwhile, UAE air traffic grew by 7.6% in first quarter. The flexibility and consistent performance in Dubai’s hospitality industry and other sectors has helped to reduce economists’ fears of a double-dip recession in the UAE, it said. Steven Morgan, head of Cluttons UAE, said: “Occupancy rates and lengths of stay have enjoyed considerable growth. However, to what extent Dubai’s current performance is being buoyed by the recent political uncertainty in the region is not yet known and it is unclear how long this situation will continue. In the short term, Dubai seems likely to out-perform in the tourism market this year.” With over 52,000 hotel rooms, Dubai can confidently cater to the 8.3 million visitors that passed through in 2010, however with 10,000 rooms to be delivered in 2011, and an additional 30,000 rooms in the next three years, the major downside risk for the sector in the medium to long-term still remains to be a case of oversupply. "These additional tourists and business travellers are coming for a variety of reasons, not least the recent turmoil in the region. People are putting Dubai and the UAE at the top of their leisure and business travel wish lists because they are very safe, comfortable and enjoyable destinations with something to offer to all types of travellers," said Ghaith Al Ghaith, FlyDubai CEO.