Tourism Breaking News
Strategic partnerships, global marketing campaigns and major events contributed to Dubai welcoming 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025, marking a 5% increase compared to 18.72 million arrivals in 2024, according to data published by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), and a third successive year of record-setting figures. The city ended the year by welcoming more than 2 million visitors in a single calendar month for the first time in December, building strong momentum heading into 2026. His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, said the remarkable annual performance of the city’s tourism industry reflects the strategic vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the ambitious goals set out in the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33.
“Dubai’s strong tourism growth momentum has been driven by the leadership’s commitment to building a city that connects the world, creates opportunity, and offers distinctive and enriching experiences for global travellers. By further enhancing the city’s exceptional infrastructure and forging strong global partnerships, we continue to consolidate Dubai’s emergence as one of the world’s most sought after destinations. Dubai’s success also reflects the city’s diversity, cultural vibrancy, and its ability to continuously evolve its tourism and hospitality offerings. Through close collaboration between all stakeholders, we are focused on driving greater innovation and raising service excellence across the tourism ecosystem.”
“The tourism sector is one of the key drivers of economic diversification and sustainable growth, in line with the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33. We are focused on further developing Dubai’s integrated tourism ecosystem to reinforce its status as a leading global destination for business and leisure and one of the world’s best cities to visit, live and work in.” His Highness added.
DET’s diversified year-round market strategy, delivered in collaboration with domestic stakeholders and more than 3,000 international partners, showcased Dubai to new and returning visitors from both traditional and emerging markets. This led to an increase in arrivals from key regions, while also attracting new permanent residents, investors and businesses. In December, the city welcomed 2.04 million international overnight visitors, marking 6% year-on-year growth. The previous record month for the city was January 2025, with 1.94 million visitors.
According to DET’s full year data, the GCC and MENA proximity markets had a combined 26% share of overall visitors to Dubai in 2025, with 2.99 million (15%) and 2.17 million (11%) arrivals respectively. Western Europe was again the largest source market to Dubai, with 4.1 million visitors (21%), up from 3.74 million in 2024, followed by CIS and Eastern Europe (2.89 million; 15%), South Asia (2.89 million; 15%), North East and South East Asia (1.85 million; 9%), the Americas (1.40 million; 7%), Africa (897,000; 5%) and Australasia (401,000; 2%).
His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), said: “Under the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s 2025 tourism performance reflects the strength of our economic model, one anchored in effective public-private collaboration and aligned with the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33. Tourism continues to be a key driver of economic diversification, delivering tangible impact through GDP growth, investment inflows, and global talent attraction. Our focus remains on scaling sustainable, accessible growth and accelerating progress toward the D33 ambition to double Dubai’s economy by 2033.”
The continued growth in visitation reflects the strength of Dubai’s diversified destination strategy, delivered in close partnership with the public and private sector. Building on Dubai’s ranking as the world’s leading hub for Greenfield Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) project attraction, tourism and hospitality continues to be a key driver for economic growth, contributing significantly to the emirate’s gross domestic product (GDP) and supporting the wider D33 ambition to double the size of the emirate’s economy by 2033. According to data published in the Financial Times Ltd’s ‘fDi Markets’ tracking database, in the first half of 2025, hotels and tourism (21.3%) was one of the top five sectors for total estimated FDI capital flows into Dubai.
