Dubai tops global list for visitors

Dubai has attracted more visitors per head of population than any other country in the world this year, according to an annual report by Mastercard.

The firm said Dubai is ‘in a league of its own’ with the highest ratio of 4.8 visitors per resident. The city came ahead of Amsterdam with 2.6 tourists for every resident and London with 2.3.

Visitor spending in Dubai has also increased by 7.5 per cent in the past year, amounting to a total spend of $10 billion (Dhs 40 billion) in 2014.

Mastercard said the figures were drawn from United Nations research and government agencies around the world.

Dubai also ranked top among 132 countries when it came to the highest spending by overnight visitors per city resident, with a figure of $3,863 (Dhs14,189).

Overall, there have been 11.95 million international overnight visitors in Dubai in 2014, ranking the emirate the fifth most visited country among 132 countries. In 2010 it had 8.4 million.

London was top with 18.69 million visitors followed by Bangkok, Paris and Singapore. However, the report said Dubai could soon become the second most visited city in the world.

‘If its current growth rates are to continue then Dubai could overtake both Paris and Singapore within five years,’ said the report.