Dubai welcomed 8.12 million international tourists during the period from January 1 to the end of May, marking an increase of nearly 10 percent compared to the same period last year, which recorded 7.39 million tourists, according to a tourism performance report released by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism on Friday.
Specifically, the city attracted 1.77 million international tourists in January, 1.9 million in February, 1.51 million in March, 1.5 million in April, and 1.44 million in May.
According to the report, Western European countries topped the list of tourist source regions to Dubai in the first five months of this year, accounting for 21 percent or approximately 1.728 million tourists. This was followed by South Asia with 1.399 million tourists, making up 17 percent of the total number of visitors. Russia, the CIS, and Eastern Europe ranked third with 1.246 million tourists, representing 15 percent of the total visitors to the emirate. The Gulf Cooperation Council countries came fourth with 1.045 million tourists, which constitutes 13 percent of the total number of visitors.
The Middle East and North Africa ranked fifth among the countries sending tourists to Dubai with 947,000 tourists, representing 12 percent, followed by Northeast and Southeast Asian countries with a share of 9 percent, amounting to around 764,000 visitors.
