Dubai welcomed more than 11 million guests in 2013. The figure is 1 million, or 10.6 per cent, higher than 2012 for all hotel and hotel apartment guests, according to Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

The top 10 nationalities per hotel guest in 2013 are:

• Saudi Arabia (1,353,819)
• India (888,835)
• UK (758,657)
• US (510,423)
• Russia (403,990)
• Kuwait (336,032)
• Germany (324,352)
• Oman (290,826)
• Iran (277,847)
• China (275,675)

The increase of hotel room occupancy suggests the emirate is on track to meet its 2020 goal of receiving 20 million tourists annually.

Director-general of the DTCM, Helal Saeed Almarri, commented at an industry gathering this week saying that a “10.6 per cent growth in hotel establishment guests demonstrates that we are on track to double the 10 million tourists received in 2012 to 20 million a year by 2020, and is an affirmation of the destination’s ever-increasing appeal”.

Hotel industry revenues for 2013 increased 16.1 per cent to total AED21.8bn ($5.9bn).