Dubai Parks pulls in 22% more visitors during 2018

Dubai: A strong fourth quarter helped push overall visitor numbers at Dubai Parks and Resorts to nearly 2.8 million, a 22 per cent gain over the 2017 traffic. Other factors too played their part.

There was a “successful integration of the annual pass programme, increased occupancy and therefore visitation from the Lapita Hotel and increased footfall from international tourists,” DXB Entertainment said in a statement. Tourists made up 40 per cent of the traffic.

In Q4-18, there were 819,000 visitors and up from 796,000 for the same period in 2017, helped along by the winter seasonality, the Halloween, UAE’s 47th anniversary, and the winter school break.

The increase in tourists demonstrate “our strategic partnerships with Emirates airline, RTA and Dubai Airport, as well as China’s Union Pay, are showing good results,” said Mohammad Almulla, CEO and Managing Director, DXB Entertainments.

“Lapita Hotel average occupancy has seen significant growth reaching 60 per cent, compared to 35 per cent (in 2017), positioning itself as an attractive and unique family holiday resort in the UAE and the region.” (In December, there were days when the hotel had full occupancy.)

“Looking ahead, our priority is to continue increasing footfall from international tourists, which is a key growth driver for the destination, while also maintaining the solid base of local and regional visitors.”