During the cold European winters, many people dream about being on a warm sandy beach somewhere and it seems that most people have their sights set on Dubai to make their dreams a reality. TripAdvisor has named Dubai the most popular destination for travelers in 2022, beating other places such as Cancun, Bali, and Barcelona to the top spot.
The emirate topped the list thanks to its blend of "modern culture with history, adventure with world-class shopping and entertainment" , says Tripadvisor. Despite the ongoing effects of the Pandemic, Dubai has proved to be a popular choice for travelers and with the city's high vaccination rates and low covid infection levels it makes sense why people are choosing Dubai over other destinations.
With Dubai wearing the tourism crown for 2022 and beyond, what does this mean for local businesses?
Tourism contributed 11.9% of the UAE's GDP in 2019, according to the latest data published by DET, Dubai welcomed over seven million international visitors between January and November 2021. Due to high visitor numbers sectors such as hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, entertainment and retail shopping all stand to benefit from the increased demand. Investment in these sectors has seen record levels of growth with many entrepreneurs and established companies understanding the opportunities the multi-faceted city of Dubai currently has to offer.
The F&B industry for example has seen a remarkable uptick in new ventures supporting Dubai’s position as a global gastronomy hub, aside from successful homegrown startups, many popular international brands are seeking to add Dubai to their locations, in the last few months alone SushiSamba, Caviar Kaspia and Sublimotion have all opened their doors.
Hoteliers are also set to welcome the millions of tourists heading to Dubai, adding to the 541 hotels already operating, 2022 will welcome new openings of W Dubai, The Langham, Atlantis Royal and Mandarin Oriental to name a few.
In the overall economic ecosystem, Dubai is set to continue on a sustainable growth path, with the rise in tourism having a knock-on effect on other non-tourism-related sectors of the economy. In 2021, the emirate built momentum in business tourism as Dubai gave more flexibility and options for talent to visit and stay by introducing new categories and programs, which included the Golden Visa, the Property Investor Visa, the Entrepreneur Visa, the Retire in Dubai Visa and the Virtual Working Visa.
Dubai’s crown as 2022’s tourism hotspot is another reason why now is a great time to invest and open a business in the Emirate.
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