A Forbes update on the city states it is now a city of more than three million people – most of whom are expatriates – with the business magazine saying its “growth trajectory is staggering”.
Much of the boom is down to a $35 billion renovation underway of the new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport.
The futuristic structure, designed by Leslie Jones Architecture, will replace Dubai International Airport, which was already the world’s second-busiest international hub.
Issam Kazim, the CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, has now launched a campaign to convince travellers to take a fresh look at its offerings.
He told Forbes about how it now feels more “accessible”: “Depending on the list, today we are the 3rd or 4th internationally most visited city in the world. “When we started in 2014, we were number seven – so we mapped out a complete strategy.”
Forbes added Dubai welcomed 9.31 million international overnight visitors from January to June 2024 – a 9 per cent increase over the 8.55 million tourist arrivals in the first half of 2023, according to the Department of Economy and Tourism.
Mr Kazim added: “Now, 25 per cent of the visitors that come to Dubai will repeat their visit within 12 months.
“Within an eight-hour radius, two-thirds of the world’s population is right there. So, we’ve made it easier to get a Visa, and we’ve made it easier for people to access Dubai by opening up more routes with our partners.
“Six months after we launched, we added 16 countries into a ‘Visa on arrival’ program.
“That’s how quickly we move. Now, with Emirates you’ve got a lot of gateways in and out of the US. They created a co-chair with United Airlines.
“Dubai thinks and acts like a company. We joke, we call ourselves Dubai Inc. Because the private and public sector work together hand-in-hand. If rules need to change because it’s more conducive to business, we make those changes. It’s that dynamic; it’s that agile.”
By the end of 2024, Dubai will also welcome a string of new hotels and five new beach clubs and restaurants to the region.
The city will also see the unveiling of a new Gran Melia beach resort in 2025 – and MGM Resorts is building its own ‘Dubai Sphere’, a smaller version of the immersive Las Vegas Sphere as part of a new $2 billion complex.
