Dubai will receive two million international tourists in January 2026

The Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai revealed the latest statistics on the performance of the tourism sector and the numbers of international visitors, and showed Dubai’s success in attracting two million international tourists during January 2026, compared to 1.94 million tourists in the same period last year, with a growth rate of about 3%.

According to data issued by the department, a copy of which was obtained by Emirates Today, Western Europe came in first place, in terms of the source of visitors to Dubai, based on geographical region, accounting for 18% of the total number of visitors during January, recording about 364 thousand international visitors, followed by the region of Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe with about 16%, recording about 325 thousand visitors.

The Gulf Cooperation Council region came in third place with about 16%, with a rate of 323,000 international tourists, while the South Asia region accounted for about 15% of the total number of international tourists to Dubai during January 2025, recording more than 287,000 international tourists, and a percentage of 12% for the Middle East and North Africa region, with a rate of 238,000 tourists, while North and Southeast Asian countries accounted for a share of 9% of the total, recording about 173 thousand international tourists.

The total number of international tourists from the Americas reached more than 152,000 international tourists, accounting for 8% of the total number, compared to a 4% share for Africa, with a rate of about 87,000 visitors, while the “Australasia” region accounted for about 2%, with a rate of 46,000 international tourists.

In addition, the number of hotel rooms in Dubai at the end of January 2026 reached more than 154.7 thousand hotel rooms within 827 hotel establishments, compared to 153.6 thousand hotel rooms within 831 establishments at the end of January 2025.

The average hotel occupancy rate in all establishments operating in Dubai was 86.2% last January, compared to 84.3% in the same period in 2025.

In turn, luxury “five-star” hotel rooms accounted for 37% of the total size of the hotel market in Dubai, recording about 56.4 thousand hotel rooms within 174 hotel establishments, followed by “four-star” hotel rooms with a percentage of 28%, recording about 43.6 thousand hotel rooms within 195 establishments.

For its part, hotels classified between “three stars” and “one star” accounted for about 19% of the total size of the hotel market, with a capacity exceeding 29.5 thousand hotel rooms, within 278 hotel facilities.

Hotel apartments registered more than 25.2 thousand rooms in 180 facilities, accounting for about 16% of the total size of the hotel market in Dubai.

The length of stay of guests in Dubai hotels, at the end of last January, recorded 3.79 hotel nights, compared to 3.76 nights in the same period in 2025, while the number of nights (booked rooms) reached more than 4.11 overnight stays, compared to about 4.01 million overnight stays during the comparison period, with a growth rate of about 2%.

The average daily price of a hotel room in Dubai reached 775 dirhams in January 2026, compared to 683 dirhams in the same period last year, a growth of 13%, while the average revenue from available rooms reached 668 dirhams in January 2026, compared to 576 dirhams in the same period last year, a growth of 16%.