Prominent tourism specialists predict that this popular international tourist destination enjoyed by thousands of visitors all year round will not suffer from the severe problem of overtourism in the near future. Some European cities like Venice and Barcelona are struggling with overcrowding due to a number of tourists visiting cities el but Dubai’s numerous options of what to do and a great infrastructure does not allow such overcrowding.
Aradhana Khowala, CEO and founder of Aptamind Partners noted that Dubai for instance divides entertainment destination in various zones and does not flock tourists to one center. Dubai is a big, developed city, and the conditions for transport, as well as other municipal utilities, are very suitable. Possible attractions are well distributed, avoiding density of one place that we can observe in Venice or Santorini,” When asked the same in an interview at the Future Hospitality Summit in Dubai.
While popular cities such as Venice and Santorini easily fall prey to the phenomenon of overtourism, the main reason is capacity restraints because they are smaller cities. On the other hand, the similar figure saw Dubai accommodating 17.1 million tourists in the last year through infrastructure and city design. Khowala pointed out that Dubai is ready to welcome even more tourists due to constant investments in developing fascinating and various attractions.
Similarly, JS Anand, the founder and CEO of Leva Hotels, agreed with Khowala regarding infrastructure capacity that allows Dubai to avoid problems associated with overcrowding of cities like Rome due to over-tourism .
Both the experts appreciated this aspect of Dubai that relates to the ability of the destination to create differentiation and provide what different segments of the market are looking for – whether it is luxury and exclusivity, or affordability and accessibility. So long as Dubai keeps on developing new sites of interest more so adhering to strategic planning, the case of overcrowded tourism is not witnessed.
