Dubai has been ranked ninth in terms of numbers of inbound international visitors in 2011, outstripping cities such as New York, Amsterdam and Shanghai, said a report.

The estimated 7.9 million international visitors to Dubai in 2011 represent a growth rate of 17.3 per cent when compared to 2010, a marked increase from the visitor growth of 13.5 per cent that the city experienced over 2009, according to the inaugural MasterCard Worldwide Index of Global Destination Cities.

The index is a new approach to understanding the global economy from the perspective of connectivity between global cities, especially in terms of international travel and cross-border expenditures.

Dubai also ranks 18th in the world in terms of the volume of international visitor spend with $7.8 billion anticipated in 2011, up from $6.3 billion in 2010 and $5.2 billion in 2009, the report said.

“The leading cities of the world – the global cities – are the very nodal hubs that knit the global economy together. Without these global cities, there would be no global economy,” said Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, global economic advisor, MasterCard Worldwide.

“While cities have been measured by their processing of capital and goods and services in the past, data on the human dimension of globalization – cross-border travel by air and expenditures – has not been as readily available. Global trade and investment are important, but better human connectivity would certainly complement them in driving global commerce forward on a more balanced and productive foundation.”

The MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities ranks 132 cities in terms of the number of their total international visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same visitors in the destination cities, and gives visitor and passenger growth forecasts for 2011.

The Index is part of MasterCard’s rich suite of research products, which include the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement, as well as over 70 Insights reports to date.

This Index and the accompanying reports are not based on MasterCard volumes or transactional data.

“The MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities is the latest addition to our knowledge leadership platform and is part of our ongoing effort to share insights that support the acceleration of business and drive real value for our customers, associates, merchants and consumers in the Middle East,” said Raghu Malhotra, general manager, Middle East, MasterCard Worldwide.

“We are delighted to see Dubai and Abu Dhabi emerging as vital destination centers regionally and globally.”

“This is exceptionally good news as we see signs of renewed consumer optimism and economic growth in the UAE. Travel is a critical driver of this emerging landscape, and the Global Cities Index is part of our endeavor to understand the wider economic significance and business impact of inbound travel into cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” he added.

For Abu Dhabi, the expectation is for robust growth of 15.5 per cent in terms of inbound international visitors in 2011 compared to 2010.

The UAE capital is also expected to draw in an international visitor spend of $2 billion in 2011, representing an increase of 21.8 per cent compared to 2010.

London, Kuwait and Beijing emerged as the top three origin cities for Dubai in terms of number of inbound passenger arrivals. At the same time, the highest jump in arrivals was witnessed for Jeddah (56 per cent), Amsterdam (54 per cent) and Beijing (36 per cent).

Correspondingly, these three origin cities also recorded the highest jump in terms of growth in spend in Dubai, registering spikes of 68 per cent, 55 per cent and 51 per cent respectively.

Business visitors constituted a big proportion of total inbound arrivals into Dubai from Kuwait (39.4 per cent), Paris (32.5 per cent), Frankfurt (32. 4 per cent), London (31.4 per cent) and Beijing (30.3).

London, Frankfurt and Jeddah emerged as the top three origin cities for Abu Dhabi in terms of number of inbound passenger arrivals. At the same time, the highest jump in arrivals was witnessed for Paris (47 per cent), Manchester (46 per cent) and Chicago (42 per cent).

In slightly different order, the highest jump in terms of growth in spend in Abu Dhabi was registered by Manchester (53.8 per cent), Paris (48.3 per cent) and Chicago (45.7 per cent).

Business visitors constituted a big proportion of total inbound arrivals into Abu Dhabi from Jeddah (35.1 per cent), Frankfurt (32.5 per cent), London (30.1 per cent), Paris (27.2 per cent) and Bangkok (25.6 per cent).

Overall London topped the world’s cities by visitor numbers with 20.1 million inbound passengers expected in 2011, ahead of Paris in second with 18.1 million.

Cities in Asia/Pacific account for eight of the top twenty with Bangkok ranked third, projected to have 11.5 million visitors this year, followed by Singapore with 11.4 million and Hong Kong with 10.9 million visitors. Only one city in North America is in the top twenty, New York, which is ranked twelfth with 7.6 million inbound passengers expected.

London also ranked first on cross-border expenditure, ahead of New York in second place, and Paris in third.  Estimated expenditures in these cities for 2011 amounted to $25.6 billion, $20.3 billion and $14.6 billion respectively.

Bangkok ranks fourth with visitor expenditures estimated at $14.4 billion, followed by Frankfurt in fifth rank with $14 billion. – TradeArabia News Service