Last reviewed 7 September 2026. Every figure on this page was checked against the source named next to it; where two official series disagree, the difference is stated.
Dubai enters 2026 on the back of the strongest run in its tourism history. The city welcomed a record 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025 — its third consecutive record year — while Dubai International Airport (DXB) handled 95.2 million passengers, the highest annual international passenger traffic ever recorded by any airport. Hotel occupancy climbed to 80.7% across an inventory of more than 154,000 rooms, one of the largest of any city in the world. The record run was interrupted in 2026: January brought 2.00 million visitors (up 3%), but the US–Israeli strikes on Iran from 28 February 2026 and the Gulf airspace restrictions that followed cut DXB's first-half 2026 traffic by 31.3% to 31.5 million passengers and pulled hotel occupancy down to 56.4%, before a month-by-month recovery set in from April. The figures below come from official sources — chiefly the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), Dubai Airports and STR — and are the latest available as of September 2026.
Key Dubai tourism statistics
- Dubai received 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025, up 5% year on year and a third consecutive annual record (DET).
- That followed 18.72 million visitors in 2024 (+9%) and 17.15 million in 2023 — every year since 2023 has broken the previous record.
- December 2025 was the first month ever with more than 2 million visitors (2.04 million), beating the previous monthly record of 1.94 million set in January 2025.
- DXB handled 95.2 million passengers in 2025 and has been the world's busiest airport for international passengers for 11 consecutive years.
- In the first half of 2026 DXB's traffic fell to 31.5 million passengers (down 31.3% year on year) as regional airspace closed during the conflict with Iran; monthly traffic recovered from 3.5 million in April to 5 million in June (Dubai Airports).
- Dubai hotel occupancy averaged 56.4% in the first half of 2026, against 81% a year earlier, with average daily rates down 7% to AED 701 on STR's measure (Cavendish Maxwell).
- Dubai's hotel stock stood at 154,264 rooms across 827 establishments at the end of 2025, with average occupancy of 80.7%.
- Hotels sold a record 44.85 million occupied room nights in 2025, at an average daily rate of AED 579 (+8%).
- The D33 agenda aims to double Dubai's economy by 2033 and rank the city among the world's top three tourism hubs.
A third consecutive record year for visitors
- Dubai welcomed 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025, a 5% increase on 2024, according to the official DET announcement.
- The recovery arc has been steep: 7.28 million visitors in 2021, 14.36 million in 2022, 17.15 million in 2023 and 18.72 million in 2024, per DET data compiled by Global Media Insight — well above the pre-pandemic peak of 16.73 million in 2019.
- December 2025 brought 2.04 million visitors, up 6% year on year and the first time Dubai has passed two million in a single month.
- The average length of stay was 3.7 nights in 2025, and DET reports visitors arriving from more than 60 actively marketed countries.
- Khaleej Times notes 2025 was the emirate's third consecutive record-breaking year. January 2026 continued the trend with 2.00 million visitors, up 3% on January 2025 (DET Tourism Performance Report, January 2026) — the most recent monthly figure DET has published, and the last before the conflict disrupted the region's air links from late February 2026.
Where Dubai's visitors come from
- Western Europe was again the largest source region in 2025 with 4.1 million visitors (21% of arrivals), up from 3.74 million in 2024, per Gulf News reporting of DET data.
- The GCC contributed 2.99 million visitors (15%), with CIS & Eastern Europe and South Asia at 2.89 million each (15%).
- By country, India was the biggest single market in DET's 2023 breakdown with about 2.2 million visitors, ahead of Oman (1.57 million) and Saudi Arabia (1.45 million), per Global Media Insight.
- The fastest-growing regions in 2024 were North East & South East Asia (+24%), Africa (+20%) and CIS & Eastern Europe (+16%), with Western Europe up 14%, according to DET's 2024 annual release.
- Smaller but notable regions in 2025 included the Americas (1.40 million), Africa (897,000) and Australasia (401,000).
DXB: the world's busiest international airport
- DXB handled 95.2 million passengers in 2025, up 3.1% — the highest annual international passenger traffic ever recorded by any airport, per Dubai Airports.
- That beat 2024's 92.3 million, which itself had surpassed the 2018 record of 89.1 million; DXB has now topped ACI's international traffic ranking for 11 straight years.
- December 2025 was the busiest month in the airport's history with 8.7 million passengers, and flight movements reached 454,800 for the year (+3.3%).
- DXB connects 291 destinations across 110 countries via 108 international carriers.
- India was DXB's biggest country market in 2025 with 11.9 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (7.5 million) and the UK (6.3 million); London was the single busiest city route at 3.9 million passengers — see our London tourism statistics for the UK end of that corridor.
- Before the conflict, Dubai Airports had forecast around 99.5 million passengers in 2026; the first half instead delivered 31.5 million (down 31.3%), with 150,600 flight movements (down 32.1%) and around 50 carriers serving 217 destinations in 99 countries, though traffic climbed from 3.5 million in April to 5 million in June and the operator expects a stronger second half as airline networks, transfer traffic and the winter schedule return (Khaleej Times). Meanwhile the $35 billion expansion of Al Maktoum International (DWC) is designed for 150 million passengers a year in its first phase, and ultimately 260 million.
Hotels: one of the world's largest room inventories
- Dubai ended 2025 with 154,264 hotel rooms across 827 establishments, per DET — up from 150,291 rooms in 2023 and 146,496 in 2022.
- Average occupancy reached 80.7% in 2025, up from 78.2% in 2024 and 77.4% in 2023 — a remarkable level for a market that size.
- Occupied room nights hit a record 44.85 million in 2025, up 4% on 2024's 43.03 million.
- The average daily rate rose 8% to AED 579, and revenue per available room climbed 11% to AED 467.
- 2026 has reversed that trend: occupancy averaged 56.4% in the first half of 2026, down from 81% in the first half of 2025, and ADR fell 7% to AED 701 on STR's measure; luxury hotels were hardest hit at 51.2% occupancy while upper-midscale properties held 65.7%. Cavendish Maxwell expects full-year 2026 occupancy of 60–66% as flights are restored (STR data via Khaleej Times).
- According to STR data cited by DET, Dubai's room inventory is significantly ahead of New York, Bangkok, Paris and Singapore, and nearly on par with London.
- High-profile openings such as One&Only One Za'abeel and The Lana Dorchester Collection (No.23 on The World's 50 Best Hotels 2024, with Atlantis The Royal at No.9) keep pushing the luxury end — a theme we cover in our luxury travel statistics.
Events, attractions and accolades
- GITEX Global drew 200,000 attendees in 2024 — the highest in its 44-year history — alongside Gulfood (150,000) and Arabian Travel Market (46,000), per DET.
- Dubai secured the hosting of 437 future business events in 2024 (+20% year on year), expected to bring an estimated 210,731 delegates to the city.
- The Dubai Fitness Challenge attracted a best-ever 2.7 million participants in 2024, while the Dubai Shopping Festival marked its 30th edition.
- At the 2024 World Travel Awards, Dubai was named the world's leading shopping and exhibition destination, Mina Rashid the world's leading cruise port, and DXB the world's leading airport.
- The 2024 MICHELIN Guide Dubai featured 106 restaurants across 35 cuisines, an 18% increase on 2023.
- Dubai ranked among the world's five safest cities in Numbeo's mid-2024 index (safety score 83.7) and took the No.1 spot for city cleanliness in the Global Power City Index for a fifth successive year.
The D33 agenda: where Dubai goes next
- The Dubai Economic Agenda D33 aims to double the size of Dubai's economy by 2033 and consolidate the city's status as a global hub for business and leisure, per DET.
- Within that, DET's stated tourism objective is to rank Dubai among the world's top three tourism hubs, per Gulf News.
- Dubai was ranked the number one city globally for foreign direct investment into tourism in fDi Markets data for H1 2024, cited in DET's annual release.
- Aviation capacity underpins the plan: DXB had been forecast to reach 99.5 million passengers in 2026 before the conflict cut first-half traffic to 31.5 million, with DWC's $35 billion first phase targeted for completion by 2032.
- For scale, Dubai's 19.59 million international visitors put it in the same conversation as Europe's largest destination markets — see our Spain and France tourism statistics for comparison.
Sources
- Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism — 2025 annual tourism performance (via Dubai Government Public Debt Management Office)
- Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism — Dubai welcomes 18.72 million international visitors in 2024
- Dubai Airports — DXB 2025 annual traffic report
- Dubai Media Office — Dubai's tourism industry achieves third successive record-breaking year (DET 2025 results)
- Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism — Tourism Performance Report, January 2026
- Khaleej Times — Dubai airport passenger traffic rebounding after 31% drop in H1 2026 (Dubai Airports data)
- Khaleej Times — Dubai hotel occupancy to recover in H2 2026 (Cavendish Maxwell / STR)
- Dubai Airports — DXB records highest annual traffic in 2024
- Gulf News — Dubai tourism hits record as 19.59m international visitors arrive in 2025
- Khaleej Times — Dubai tourism hits record 19.59m visitors in 2025
- The National — Dubai airport handles record 95.2 million passengers in 2025
- Global Media Insight — Dubai tourism statistics (DET data compilation)
