Dubai ranks among top ten tourists destinations worldwide and the emirate is expected to attract about eight million international tourists in 2011 and their spending is estimated to be around $7.8 billion, according to a new research released by MasterCard.

Dubai features prominently on the Index, coming in ninth in terms of numbers of inbound international visitors and outstripping cities such as New York, Amsterdam, Kuala Lampur and Shanghai, according to the inaugural MasterCard Worldwide Index of Global Destination Cities released at a news conference on Monday.

The Index ranks 132 cities in terms of the number of their total international visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same visitors in the destination cities, and gives visitor and passenger growth forecasts for 2011.

With 7.9 million international visitors expected in 2011, Dubai is the ninth most highly ranked destination city in the world. This represents a growth rate of 17.3 per cent when compared to 2010, a marked increase from the visitor growth of 13.5 per cent that the city experienced over 2009. Dubai also ranks eighteenth in the world in terms of the volume of international visitor spend with $7.8 billion anticipated in 2011, up from $6.3 billion in 2010 and $5.2 billion in 2009.

For Abu Dhabi, the expectation is for robust growth of 15.5 per cent in terms of inbound international visitors in 2011 compared to 2010. The capital is also expected to draw in an international visitor spend of $2 billion in 2011, representing an increase of 21.8 per cent compared to 2010. “.... To see Dubai and Abu Dhabi emerging as vital destination centres regionally and globally .... is exceptionally good news as we see signs of renewed consumer optimism and economic growth in the UAE. Travel is a critical driver of this emerging landscape, and the Global Cities Index is part of our endeavor to understand the wider economic significance and business impact of inbound travel into cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” said Raghu Malhotra, general manager, Middle East, MasterCard Worldwide.

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