LONDON - The number of foreigners visiting Dubai, the Gulf’s tourism hub, grew by 0.5 percent in the first half of 2018, a substantially slower rate than the 10.6 percent growth recorded a year earlier, official data showed yesterday.
Dubai, which has spent billions building attractions including the world’s tallest tower, hosted 8.1 million international overnight tourists in the six months to June 30, the tourism department said.
It had previously reported 8.06 million tourists for the first half of 2017, an increase of 10.6 percent year-on-year.
The tourism sector was worth 109 billion dirham (R390 billion) at the end of 2017, according to the tourism department. Dubai is seeing a slowdown in some sectors, such as real estate.