Travel/Tourism
Dubai Moves to Become World’s First Most Visited City
**Records 15.8m Int’l Overnight Visitors in 2017
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Last year, Dubai recorded a strong 6.2 percent year-on-year increase in international overnight visitation, accelerating the 5 percent growth witnessed in the previous year and propelling the emirate’s momentum towards its 2020 goal of welcoming 20 million visitors per year by the start of the next decade.
According to the latest data published by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), a total of 15.79 million tourists visited Dubai last year, setting a new record for the emirate and underlining the sustained strength and resilience of its travel and tourism sector.
Commenting on the development, His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism, said: “Under the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the emirate has continued to capture the share of the global outbound travel market, complemented by a significant increase in tourism-driven economic contribution to the country’s GDP.
“Our strong 6.2 percent growth in 2017 has allowed us to ramp up the pace towards meeting our 2020 targets, and we remain confident that our performance, backed by the continued strength of our partnerships across government and private sector stakeholders, will enable us to successfully attain our goals of becoming the number one most visited city as well as being the most recommended with the highest number of repeat Dubai loyalists.”
India retained top spot in 2017, contributing 2.1 million visitors, becoming the first country to cross the 2 million mark in a single year.
The country’s performance represented a 15 percent year-on-year increase and validated, among other factors, the success of Dubai Tourism’s ongoing collaboration with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the multi award-winning #BeMyGuest campaign.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) maintained its second rank, contributing a total of 1.53 million tourists last year, maintaining its position as the highest driver of traffic volumes from within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Third-placed UK, meanwhile, delivered 1.27 million travellers, rising 2 percent over 2016, underscoring Dubai’s enduring popularity among British travellers.
Impressive results from some of Dubai’s remaining top 10 source markets for inbound tourism included fifth-placed China with 764,000 tourists, up 41 percent while eighth-placed Russia with 530,000 visitors, recording a stellar 121 percent increase over the previous year.
Both markets benefited from easier access following the introduction of visa-on-arrival facilities to Chinese and Russian citizens in late 2016 and early 2017, respectively.
With increased contributions also from the USA, Germany and Iran, at 633,000, 506,000 and 503,000 visitors respectively, collective gains across all of these markets helped mitigate the decline in visitation observed from some of the regional markets like Oman and Pakistan.
Western Europe replaced the GCC as Dubai’s main regional source market with a 21 percent share, contributing more than 3.2 million travellers, up 5.5 percent.
Although last year’s top performer ended 2017 in second place, the GCC region still maintained a high share of volume at 19 percent, delivering an overall 3.02 million travellers to Dubai. This 4 percentage point decline in GCC share was, however, effectively countered by year-on-year increases in tourist volumes from all other regional source markets except Australasia.
The South Asia region, in third place, contributed an 18 percent share of over 2.8 million visitors, up a strong 10.6 percent, followed by the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and North and South-East Asia regions in joint fourth position, each contributing close to 1.7 million visitors and independently commanding 11 percent share, the former recording a 3.2 percent increase and the latter, an impressive 23.6 percent over 2016 visitation figures.
Underscoring the successful delivery of its diversified market strategy, Dubai’s regional mix saw the biggest year-on-year gain of 51.8 percent from the Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe block, contributing more than 1.1 million visitors and representing a share of 7 percent; the Americas with a 6 percent share made up of just under 1 million visitors, up 7.7 percent; the Africa region with a 5 percent share made up of more than 780,000 travellers, up 6.7 percent; and finally Australasia countries with a 2 percent share of overall volumes, with a total of just under 340,000 visitors.
Supporting the city’s priority agenda to always offer something new, unique and world-class to every global traveller, 2017 saw further strides made in broadening Dubai’s appeal to a wide spectrum of visitors.
The city’s newest beachfront district, La Mer, opened to provide families with a new hotspot for dining, playing and unwinding, while Etihad Museum was inaugurated to give the culturally curious an enriching overview of the birth of the United Arab Emirates and the fathers of the nation.
Meanwhile, Dubai’s new era of live entertainment saw yet another boost with the inauguration of La Perle, the region’s first resident theatrical show, performed in a state-of-the-art aqua theatre in Habtoor City.
Dubai’s major theme parks – IMG Worlds of Adventures and Dubai Parks and Resorts (DPR) had their first full year of operations in 2017. And continuing to enhance Dubai’s attractiveness as a global shopping destination following its launch in December 2016, Dubai’s Retail Calendar saw both traffic and engagement across the 12 months of shopping-related festivals, promotions and seasonal offer periods, mega-sales and clearance events, exclusive retail experiences and activations.
Among the openings towards the end of the year were Dubai Frame and Dubai Safari. New destination offerings coming online in 2018 include sections of the Dubai Historic District, giving visitors an immersion into the rich history of the emirate, glimpses of how people used to live and work, and traditions and customs that remain to this day. To add to the mix is UAE’s first national park, Al Marmoum, which launched at the beginning of 2018, providing an opportunity for tourists to interact, learn and appreciate the wildlife flora and fauna of the emirate. With more options for visitors, combined with key fundamentals and the UAE’s status as the second ranked country globally for safety and security, according to the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, a firm path has been set for further growth in visitation numbers.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A travel card designed for tourists, business visitors, Diaspora returnees has been launched by Verve in partnership with Providus Bank.
Known as the ProvidusVerve Travel Card, the Naira-based travel card will allow inbound travellers to enjoy a smooth, secure, and convenient payment experience throughout their stay in Nigeria. It was powered by Verve’s secure.
Created to support the surge of tourists, expatriates, business visitors, conference delegates, and returning diaspora expected during the festive Detty December season, the ProvidusVerve Travel Card enables seamless payments for transportation, hotels, dining, shopping, entertainment, and everyday essentials nationwide.
The card also works on select global merchant platforms that accept Verve, including Netflix, Google Play, and other digital services, ensuring travellers enjoy uninterrupted access to familiar services.
The ProvidusVerve Travel Card eliminates the hassle of sourcing naira or converting foreign currency on arrival. It enables instant, secure transactions, reduces reliance on cash, and supports compliance with the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It also mitigates the risks associated with carrying physical cash such as loss, theft, or fraud, offering a safe, regulation-aligned option for both online and in-person payments.
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card is a timely solution for inbound travellers seeking reliability, security, and simplicity while navigating Nigeria.
“Together with Providus Bank, we have created a product that eliminates the friction traditionally associated with accessing local payments.
“Whether for tourism, business, or festive activities, this card ensures a smooth financial experience from the moment visitors land,” the Vice President for Issuing and Acquiring Management for Africa at Verve International, Mr Paul Ohakim, stated.
On his part, the Divisional Head for Product Management and Solution Delivery at Interswitch, Mr Ademola Adeniran, described the partnership as a reflection of “Verve’s commitment to designing products that respond to real user needs.”
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card supports everyday experiences — from booking rides and hotels to shopping, streaming, and dining. It provides inbound travellers with a secure, compliant, digital-first way to experience Nigeria without financial barriers,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the federal government may recover and sell the assets of Dana Air to refund passengers and travel agents whose funds remain trapped following the suspension of the airline’s operations.
The Minister disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Ministry’s fourth quarter stakeholders’ engagement to enhance governance for effective service delivery in aviation.
Speaking at the event themed “leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will be directed to probe why funds trapped by the airline are yet to be refunded.
He revealed that the authority suspended the operations of the airline as a matter of choice between safety and disaster.
“For Dana, the problem is that it was a choice between safety and disaster. So we didn’t take the commercial thing as priority. The priority was safety, and we all looked at the damning reports that we had met on the table.
“It was a decision of the NCAA to suspend them, but I pushed them to say, look, these are the reports we are seeing on the table about safety record, about lack of standards that put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If they continue flying, I don’t know whether most of us will be here. Many of us would have been victims of one of those flights. God forbid.”
According to him, “I have asked Najomo (NCAA director general) to dig deep to find out how those passengers and agents will be refunded. He has to dig deep on that.
“One solution will also be that if that same individual or those entities are trying to come back to aviation under any guise, whether to go and register a new AOC or use any business within the aviation sector, they have to go and settle their debts first.
“We should look at their assets. There are assets that are still available. Let them sell their assets. Let’s cannibalize their revenue and pay people. Let’s find a way to go after their assets and get money to pay Nigerians who are owed.
“NCAA should do that because they can’t get away with it.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it has imposed a N5 million penalty on Qatar Airways for consumer protection violations.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu, on X, adding that there may be other sanctions depending on how the airline treats other cases.
“Glad to announce that, today, the NCAA has sanctioned @qatarairways to the tune of five million naira being penalty for consumer protection-related infractions. In addition, the letters of investigation (LOI) written to the airline over other cases may lead to further sanctions if not treated satisfactorily,” Mr Achimugu wrote.
The fine followed an incident when a Nigerian passenger was accused by a Qatar Airways cabin crew member of sexual harassment during boarding in Lagos for a flight to the United States via Doha, Qatar.
The allegation was only reported in Doha, where the passenger was arrested, detained for 18 hours, fined, and compelled to sign a document written solely in Arabic.
Qatar Airways allegedly refused to continue his journey, forcing him to purchase another ticket at considerable financial and reputational cost.
The NCAA said it invited Qatar Airways’ country manager to a meeting over the incident, but he failed to attend, sending subordinates instead.
“I understand that some countries do not have advanced aviation consumer protection regulations like Nigeria does. In certain cases, some countries don’t even have any. This creates a situation where airlines operating out of those countries (mostly national carriers) act with disdain towards consumer protection enforcement in Nigeria.
“This is not a situation that we would accept here. It is against the law for ANY Airlines not to respond to the NCAA. It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with the provisions of Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023,” Mr Achimugu said in an earlier post.
In September, the NCAA accused Qatar Airways of mistreating Nigerian passengers and failing to comply with consumer protection regulations under Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.
The regulator then threatened stiff penalties against the airline for repeatedly disregarding its directives.
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