Added to Cart

Dubai Tourism Statistics 2024

Dubai boasts hundreds of world class hotels and visitor attractions. From the skyscrapers to the waterparks, the markets to the Mosques, there is just as much here for culture seekers as for the adrenaline junkies.

But just how significant is Dubai in the tourism game and how many visitors does this bustling hub of life attract?

We take a look in our 2024 round up of Dubai tourism statistics.

Key Dubai Tourism Figures

If you’re here for the quick version, here are the key Dubai tourism figures you need. You’ll find more detail within.

  • Over a quarter (26.8%) of people in the UK have visited Dubai at least once with the majority stating they enjoyed it enough to go back again - or to want to go back again!
  • Of those in the UK who haven’t been to Dubai before, almost half (48.43%) state that they would like to
  • Over 43% of those under 35 in the UK have visited Dubai
  • Searches for “flights to Dubai” in Google have increased by 233% since 2016
  • Over one million Instagram posts have been published from the Burj Al Arab
  • Over 16.7 million people visited Dubai in 2019 (pre pandemic)
  • Through the Covid pandemic, visitor numbers dropped to 5.51 million in 2020 and 7.28 million in 2021
  • In 2022, Dubai recovered its visitor numbers to almost pre pandemic levels (14.36 million)
  • In 2023, according to official Dubai tourism statistics, Dubai surpassed its pre pandemic visitor numbers attracting 17.15 million overnight visitors - a record

A Quarter of People in the UK Have Visited Dubai

Not exactly a quick hop, flying from the UK to Dubai will take around 7 hours. But it doesn’t stop those living in the UK from making the trip.

In 2023, we surveyed 2,000 people aged 16 and over in the UK to ask them the following question:

  • Which of the following statements most applies to you?
    • I have visited Dubai more than once
    • I have visited Dubai once before and would like to go back
    • I have visited Dubai once before but would not like to go back
    • I have never visited Dubai before but would like to
    • I have never visited Dubai before and do not want to

Here’s how they answered.

Response % of Respondents
I have visited Dubai more than once 6.85%
I have visited Dubai once before and would like to go back 12.10%
I have visited Dubai once before but would not like to go back 7.85%
I have never visited Dubai before but would like to 35.45%
I have never visited Dubai before and do not want to 37.75%
dubai travel keywords trend volume overtime

In other words a huge proportion of people in the UK have been to Dubai and most have either already been back or want to. The data tells us:

  • Over a quarter of people in the UK say they’ve visited Dubai already
  • Of those who have been, 70.7% of them have either been back for at least one more visit or would like to - so the majority of visitors to Dubai from the UK have a positive experience, it seems
  • Of the people in the UK who have not yet visited Dubai, 48.43% of them would like to at some point

There’s some variation in response by age

You’d be forgiven for thinking that older people, who’ve had longer opportunity to travel, may be more likely to have visited Dubai. But our statistics from January 2024’s survey suggest that Dubai tourism is far more popular amongst younger people in the UK than older ones. Here’s what we found out:

Age % of Respondents Who Have Visited Dubai at Least Once
16 - 24 43.11%
25 - 34 43.73%
35 - 44 35.06%
45 - 54 22.09%
55+ 13.00%
dubai traveller age group

The pull of this glamorous destination is most notable amongst the under 35s. Could this be linked to the fact that younger demographics remain more prolific on certain social media platforms, where influencers and aspiring travel bloggers share aspirational footage of the destination? Because one thing we do know for sure is that Dubai is a thoroughly instagrammed destination. We’ll find out more about that later!

Official Dubai Visitor Numbers

Dubai publishes data about its visitor numbers each year. The available data at the time of writing (February 2024) runs from 2014 to 2023 and here is what we know.

Table below updated
Year Number of Visitors to Dubai (in millions)
2014 13.2
2015 14.2
2016 14.9
2017 15.79
2018 15.92
2019 16.73
2020 5.51
2021 7.28

Graph below updated

dubai visitors ratio

Demand for Travel to Dubai Globally - The Facts and Figures

If we want to get an insight into the psyche of a population, then a quick flick through their collective Google search patterns certainly helps. After all, billions of us rely on the search engine to find anything from medical advice to pancake recipes and everything in between. That definitely includes travel advice, services and products like luggage and travel accessories.

So we took a look (using kwfinder.com) at the estimated number of searches per month for things like “flights to Dubai,” in Google globally. According to the statistics:

  • Comparing January 2016 and January 2022, the number of searches in Google globally for “flights to Dubai” rose by an astronomical 233% from 49,500 to 165,000, before falling slightly in 2023 to be more in line with pre pandemic levels
  • Comparing the same periods, searches for “Dubai hotels” rose 82% as well, from 301,000 to 550,500 searches in Google worldwide before again tailing off a little in 2023

Graph below updated

visitors dubai year

Here’s how the numbers have changed over time.

Table below updated
Month/Year Estimated global searches in Google for “flights to dubai” Estimated global searches in Google for “dubai hotels” Estimated global searches in Google for “dubai holidays”
1/2016 49500 165000 90500
2/2016 49500 110000 60500
3/2016 49500 135000 60500
4/2016 49500 135000 60500
5/2016 49500 165000 74000
6/2016 40500 135000 60500
7/2016 49500 135000 60500
8/2016 49500 165000 60500
9/2016 74000 246000 110000
10/2016 74000 301000 110000
11/2016 74000 301000 90500
12/2016 74000 301000 90500
1/2017 110000 450000 165000
2/2017 74000 368000 90500
3/2017 90500 368000 90500
4/2017 74000 301000 90500
5/2017 74000 301000 110000
6/2017 74000 246000 74000
7/2017 74000 301000 90500
8/2017 74000 301000 90500
9/2017 74000 301000 110000
10/2017 74000 368000 90500
11/2017 74000 368000 74000
12/2017 74000 368000 74000
1/2018 110000 450000 135000
2/2018 90500 368000 90500
3/2018 90500 301000 110000
4/2018 90500 301000 110000
5/2018 74000 246000 90500
6/2018 74000 246000 90500
7/2018 74000 550000 74000
8/2018 74000 550000 74000
9/2018 90500 673000 90500
10/2018 90500 550000 74000
11/2018 90500 368000 74000
12/2018 90500 301000 74000
1/2019 110000 450000 135000
2/2019 90500 368000 90500
3/2019 90500 368000 90500
4/2019 90500 301000 90500
5/2019 90500 368000 90500
6/2019 90500 368000 90500
7/2019 90500 368000 74000
8/2019 90500 368000 90500
9/2019 90500 368000 90500
10/2019 90500 368000 90500
11/2019 90500 368000 90500
12/2019 110000 368000 90500
1/2020 135000 450000 135000
2/2020 90500 368000 90500
3/2020 135000 201000 49500
4/2020 49500 135000 33100
5/2020 49500 135000 33100
6/2020 60500 165000 40500
7/2020 74000 201000 49500
8/2020 74000 246000 60500
9/2020 60500 201000 49500
10/2020 74000 201000 49500
11/2020 135000 246000 110000
12/2020 165000 301000 165000
1/2021 165000 301000 135000
2/2021 74000 246000 49500
3/2021 74000 246000 49500
4/2021 74000 246000 40500
5/2021 90500 246000 40500
6/2021 90500 301000 27100
7/2021 110000 301000 40500
8/2021 135000 368000 90500
9/2021 110000 368000 110000
10/2021 135000 450000 135000
11/2021 135000 550000 110000
12/2021 135000 450000 74000
1/2022 165000 550000 201000
2/2022 135000 673000 135000
3/2022 135000 823000 110000
4/2022 135000 673000 110000
5/2022 135000 823000 110000
6/2022 135000 673000 90500
7/2022 135000 673000 90500
8/2022 135000 673000 90500
9/2022 135000 823000 90500
10/2022 135000 1220000 90500
11/2022 135000 1000000 90500
12/2022 135000 1000000 90500

Dubai’s Top 10 Most Popular Hotels

Using the same method as above, we can get a measure of the most popular hotels based on how well searched they are. Now of course, we often Google multiple hotels before booking something (and some of us Google hotels just to be nosey). So while Google searches don’t necessarily correlate perfectly with bookings data, it can give us a great idea as to which are the most popular online.

We took Tripadvisors top 50 hotels (as of January 2023) and took a look at how many searches each month (taking an average of the last 12 months) have been made in Google worldwide for the hotel name.

Here are the top 10:

Table below updated
Hotel Search Query We Found Data For Global Searches/Month
JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai jw marriott marquis hotel dubai 61300
Shangri-La Dubai shangri la dubai 46800
Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach sofitel dubai jumeirah beach 38700
Park Hyatt Dubai park hyatt dubai 38200
Rixos Premium Dubai JBR rixos premium dubai 34200
Raffles The Palm Dubai raffles the palm dubai 33000
Address Dubai Mall address dubai mall 31900
The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai dubai the ritz carlton 31300
Sofitel Dubai the Obelisk sofitel dubai the obelisk 31200
Raffles Dubai raffles dubai 30300

The most searched for hotel in Google over the last year has been the JW Marrior Marquis, whose name is Googled an average of 60,300 times monthly.

Dubai on Social Media

Once upon a time you might have relied on printed destination brochures from bricks and mortar travel consultant stores to find photos of your would-be travel destinations. But it’s been a while since we had to do that. Simply pick up your phone and head to any number of your social media profiles and you can get up to minute photos and even video footage taken almost anywhere in the world.

Instagram in particular is a hive of activity for holidaymakers, travel bloggers and other influencers sharing their travels. Dubai is prime real estate in the Insta-travel space with thousands of posts each day from visitors showcasing their views and activities there.

But what are the most Instagrammed Dubai attractions?

To find out, we took at look at TripAdviser’s top 20 list of Dubai attractions (as of February 2024) and then went over to Instagram to check out how many updates had been posted from that location. Here’s what we found:

  • The Burj al Arab is the most Instagrammed spot in Dubai, with a million posts as of February 2024
Table below updated
Place Number of Insta Posts at the place as of Jan 2023
Burj Al Arab 1,000,000
Dubai Marina 959000
Dubai Miracle Garden 901000
Le Mer 656000
Aura Skypool 562000
Global Village 542000
Mall of the Emirates 405000
Jumeirah Public Beach 267000
Dubai Frame 229000
Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo 214000
Dubai Fountain 188000
Ski Dubai 160000
Wild Wadi Waterpark 89600
Dubai Creek 69500
Dubai Mall 53700
Burj Khalifa 51300
Atlantic Aquaventure Waterpark 49400
Lost Chambers Aquarium 19300
Bur Dubai Abra Station 15500
Souk Madinat Jumeirah 1000

What Next for Dubai?

With travel once again largely restriction free, we’re seeing millions of tourists returning to Dubai. And with so many attractions and hotels at a multitude of budget levels, we think this is one travel destination that will continue to attract more tourists each year.

Methodology and Caveats

We’ve taken measures to ensure the data and statistics in this piece are as accurate as possible. As with any research piece, there are limitations. So let us tell you about our approach.

  • Survey: We commissioned our survey through Censuswide, a UK based market research company. We chose this provider because they operate with Esomar principles in mind and ensure questions are not leading, the panel is demographically representative and the data accurate. On our behalf, Censuswide surveyed a demographically representative sample of 2,000 people aged 16 or over in the UK between 3rd and 6th January 2023
  • Google Search Data: To estimate how many searches are made in Google for any given keyword, we use kwfinder.com which takes its own data from Google’s Ad Planner. These numbers are intended as estimates. It is worth bearing in mind some caveats around using search data:
    • Searches for a single keyword doesn’t always consider variants of that keyword. So, for example, while thousands of people are searching for “Dubai hotels,” we know people will also be making any number of variant searches like “3 star hotels on a budget in Dubai,” or “family friendly hotels in Dubai.” So while search data is useful for insight, it is by no means a comprehensive picture of interest
    • We don’t know anything about the intentions of searchers. They may be Googling flights to Dubai because they want to know how long the flight takes or which airlines fly there. A search doesn’t necessarily mean a booking will take place
    • One search does not equate to one searcher. One single searcher might make a search several times over a month
  • We took visitor numbers from Dubai tourism: https://dubaitourism.getbynder.com/m/7f196b0de4dd40a8/original/DTCM-Annual-Visitor-Report-2020.pdf
  • We identified the number of posts made from a location on Instagram using mobile devices. As of January 2024, when you search for a place on the Instagram mobile application, you can go to that location’s dedicated page and see the number of posts made there at the top of this page. We simply manually looked up this data

If you’ve any further questions about our methodology or would like to see raw data, please email digital@ubuy.com

Our other research case studies: