Dubai’s message to Australians as more tourists visit than ever before

More Australians are visiting the Middle Eastern tourist hotspot than ever before, and the city has a message for our country.

Dubai no longer wants Australians to view the destination as a place that is only for rich tourists who want glitz and glam.

It comes as previously unseen data obtained by news.com.au reveals more Australians visited Dubai last year than ever before.

There was a new record of 296,000 overnight visitors from Australia in 2024, which was also up 6 per cent year-on-year, according to Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism.

Shahab Shayan, the regional director of international operations, told news.com.au that 2025 had also started out strong for the Australian market with a 14 per cent growth year-on-year in January.

Dubai is the largest city in the United Arab Emirates and is the home base of international airline Emirates.

Once thought of as a quick stopover for Australians on the way to Europe, Mr Shayan said the average length of stay in a standard hotel was now six days.

He said while historically it was the level of luxury that drew tourists in, they want Australians to know the city now has more to offer.

“The area we’re really pushing now is that Dubai is for everyone, it’s not just about the glitz and the glamour, and luxury, and staying in five-star properties,” he said.

“If that’s what you like, fantastic, we have that – but if you’d like to experience something a bit different, Dubai has got that as well.”

Dubai is popular among celebrities and influencers for its luxury. Picture: Instagram / @tashoakley

Australian model and businesswoman Natasha Oakley was in Dubai last month. Picture: Instagram / tashoakley

The Middle Eastern city’s tourism drawcards include luxury accommodation, high-end shopping (Dubai Mall is the largest in the world by area), and world-class dining (the Michelin Guide was introduced three years ago – check out some behind-the-scenes secrets here).

But Mr Shayan stresses visitors now have a lot more tourism offerings to chose from – including authentic desert safaris, water activities like jet skiing and kite surfing, and mountainous activities like hiking, biking and canoeing. In a city where it is normal to have 40C summer days, there is even a ski resort (inside the Mall of the Emirates).

“I think the product range 10 years ago was different, 100 per cent. The product range we have now really captures more segments,” Mr Shayan said.

Dubai wants to promote the destination as more than its glitz and glam Picture: istock

Mr Shayan said as more people come to Dubai, the popularity of venturing out of modern Dubai and seeing Dubai’s old town and Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood has “increased immensely”.

“The structures there are about 150 years old, a bit more actually, and that hasn’t been touched, hasn’t been modernised at all. It’s just been maintained really well,” he said.

“You get to really experience how people in Dubai used to live.”

Tourists can visit the textile and spice souks (outdoor marketplaces) or stop by the not-for-profit Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, where you can learn about the ruling family and traditional Emirati food.

The age group that is biggest among Australian visitors is 25 to 54 years old.

But it is not just Australians adding Dubai to their travel lists, overall international visitor numbers have also broken the previous record.

Dubai welcomed 18.72 million international overnight visitors in 2024, a 9 per cent year-over-year increase that surpassed the previous record in 2023 of 17.15 million.

Dubai wants to grow its population by almost six million people within 20 years. Picture: istock

Al Maktoum International Airport has plans to become the largest in the world by 2030, with a passenger capacity of 260 million annually.

Work has already started on the new $53 billion passenger terminal.

In addition to tourists, the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan projects the population will grow by 5.8 million people by the year 2040 – from 3.3 million in 2021 to 7.8 million.

A significant portion of this population growth is expected to be expats.

Expats already make up more than 85 per cent of Dubai’s population, who benefit from a tax-free income policy.