Dubai Sees Hike in Russian Visitors

By Suzanne Fenton, Staff Reporter

The number of tourists from Russia and member countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to Dubai rose by 21 per cent in 2008 on 2007 figures.

This means 512,000 visitors from that region came to Dubai last year with each spending more than $100 (Dh367.3) than what they had spent on their hotel rooms, Gassan Aridi, chief executive of Dubai-based Alpha Tours, said.
Natalia Vorobieva, the general director of Natalie Tours, added that Dubai and the UAE in general were strategic destinations for Russians.

"The crisis has influenced Russian tourism. The estimation of the total decrease of the Russian tourism market this year would be around 23 per cent.

"Countries with the Euro are suffering more than those with dollar prices because the Euro now is extremely high compared to other currencies. This is one advantage to Dubai," Vorobieva said.

Dubai is a very popular destination among Russians. However, Egypt remains their top winter holiday destination.
Atlantis resort on the Palm Jumeirah attributes 13 per cent of its total guest numbers to Russian visitors.
A recent report showed that the Middle East enjoyed the highest revenue per available room (RevPAR) up until July this year, at $126.9 compared with other markets including Europe, the Americas and the Asia Pacific region.
Dubai, in particular, holds the highest occupancy and RevPAR rates - higher than Tokyo and Sydney.
Aridi said that prices had dropped in Dubai due to increased competition in other destinations.
"Revenue has dropped definitely but the number of tourists is stable. Destinations like Dubai and Thailand are OK but others like Europe are really affected," he said.

Source: http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/09/09/30/10353278.html