How the growth of Dubai's Tourism Sector massively impacts Dubai's economy, job opportunities and it's Real Estate expansion.

Where do I start on this subject? There's so much to say in this regard! But I will let the numbers speak for themselves!

Tourism contributes 13% to Dubai's Economy. That's big!

The number of tourists coming to Dubai have continuously been growing over the years and had peaked at 16,730,000 in 2019!

And then COVID happened!

But Dubai put in the measures for vaccination, prudent policies, Expo 2020, and the numbers have started getting stronger every quarter. By the end of 2021 Dubai had welcomed 7.28 million overnight visitors! That's still less than half the 2019 pre-COVID figure!

But here's the interesting part!

?- According to the latest data published by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) international visitation to the city surpassed 3.4 million visitors in the fourth quarter of 2021. The result is that the city has reached 74 % of its total pre-pandemic tourist arrivals of the fourth quarter of 2019!

?- Average occupancy was 81.4 percent compared to 80.7 percent during the fourth quarter of 2019.

?- Dubai’s hotel room demand for 2021 equaled the combined hotel room demand of London, Paris and Oslo!

?- Total number of rooms sold in Dubai during 2021 was almost 1% of all rooms sold worldwide!

- Average hotel occupancy reached 67% in 2021, among the highest occupancy numbers internationally!

- And to top it all, Dubai has just been declared as the No1 destination in the World, in the 2022 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards!

Well, that's the story about how Dubai is bouncing back in tourism numbers! The story doesn't end here!

Just as the numbers were growing, Dubai Government announced in November 2021, a more ambitious target for itself! 25 million tourists annually by 2025!

How does it intend reaching that goal?

- Well, for starters, the Dubai merged its Departments of Economy and Tourism into a single entity! This makes tourism a much more integral part of the economy!

- Expo 2020 has already turned the eyes of the world towards Dubai! With it, Dubai is showcasing itself to first time tourists, Government dignitaries from around the world, businesspersons, investors, decision makers, and just about everyone! This will definitely translate into many more new opportunities, investments, new businesses, and expanded tourism for Dubai in the years to come! Here is a city that dared and delivered a world-class event that pulled in millions, when the world was still debating know how to react to the post-event effects of COVID!

- Dubai also wants to attract 400 global economic events annually by 2025! Business events have a significant economic impact and also contribute to knowledge development and innovation in the city. Collaborating with stakeholders across the public and private sectors, Dubai has already captured a total of 120 events for the year 2021 and beyond. These events, which include a combination of conferences, meetings and incentive travel programmes, featuring almost 70,000 key opinion leaders, scientists, government officials and other experts, put Dubai at the heart of global conversations as the world recovers its key sectors and professions, innovation and economic growth.

- Dubai also wants to attract 100,000 companies in 3 years! It looks likely to cross this target! Already, Dubai issued 72,152 new business licenses in 2021, a growth of 69 % compared to 2020 when 42,729 licenses were issued! More than 2.3 million visitors cited business as their main purpose of travel to Dubai in 2019, almost 14%.

- Dubai is set to welcome over 500,000 cruise tourists during the 2021-2022 season which officially began in October. 126 ship calls expected at Mina Rashid. A new terminal called the Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal has just been completed last November, already winning the title of the World's Best New Cruise Development 2021, by World Cruise Awards, and which is expected to welcome more than 150,000 passengers in its first season. Dubai Harbour has been dubbed the region’s most modern and largest stand-alone dedicated twin cruise terminal centre, capable of simultaneously handling two of the largest cruise ships currently operating globally.

So what does it mean for Dubai's real estate.

I checked online to see which cities has the most 5 star hotels. Worldatlas.com's site stated "As of 2017, data shows that the city with the highest number of five-star hotels is London with a total of 75 five-star hotels. Following closely is Dubai with 61 while New York comes third with a total of 59". The real numbers as of Nov. 2021 is that Dubai has 139 Five-star Hotels, 178 Four-star Hotels, 238 One to Three-star Hotels, and 188 Hotel Apartments Properties. Its so hard to keep up with Dubai! And I am not even counting Holiday Homes!

Next I wanted to know the average cost of building a hotel in Dubai. Avana Capital's website stated "the cost to build a hotel has been as little as $8 million for a 24-room boutique hotel or more than $1 billion for a new resort on an island in Dubai. An average hotel with roughly 50,000 square feet may fall in the middle at a cost of $22 million". Obviously those who have invested so much in Dubai’s hotels must have done due diligence and forecast regarding the future potential for Dubai!

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) reveals that by 2026, the number of international tourists visiting the UAE will hit 30.94 million and they will spend AED167.7 billion ($45.66 billion).

Also, luxury hotels hire an average of 20 staff members for every 10 rooms available for rent, and even 3-star establishments average eight employees for every 10 rooms.

Now put it all together! More tourists, more hotels, more land sales, more labour, more accommodation, more growth of businesses supplying to these investments, more commercial properties needed, more qualified staff after the properties are ready, more higher end accommodations, more growth of related businesses. And then tourists come and shop, and eat, and move around! Leisure, retail, transportation, restaurants, and other related industries etc. grow! And this cycle continuous to feed itself!

I have witnessed this story unfold for the last 40 years! And this is only a small part of the story. How did it all happen, which new areas is the country moving towards, what new opportunities will we see unfold? I have some very interesting properties, which I feel will become the new ‘hot spot’ as far as Dubai’s real estate is concerned. Talk with me! I will not sell real estate to you. I will tell you 'Why Dubai' - then, now and moving forwards! 050-6590245.