Quickly after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Dubai grew to become a brand new haven for rich Russian vacationers: 758,000 Russians visited Dubai that 12 months, a 70% year-on-year enhance. By the center of 2023, Russia was Dubai’s second-largest supply market behind solely India.
These numbers died down as quite a few Russian vacationers opted to relocate to Dubai completely or journey elsewhere, however the Dubai-Russia tourism tie has remained sturdy.
Now Moscow is actively searching for to attract in additional UAE vacationers, in accordance with an interview within the UAE’s state information wire.
“The Gulf area, particularly the UAE, is a key marketplace for us, and we’re wanting to see extra Emirati guests having fun with Moscow as an everyday vacation spot,” stated Bulat Nurmukhanov, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Metropolis Tourism Committee, in an interview with the Emirates Information Company (WAM) throughout a media gathering in Dubai.
“The surge in tourism circulate from the United Arab Emirates to Moscow is outstanding,” Nurmukhanov stated. “By the primary 9 months of final 12 months, we welcomed over 40,000 vacationers from the UAE — in comparison with simply 5,000 in 2022. The expansion is phenomenal, and we’re right here to maintain this momentum.”
Whereas 40,000 is pretty modest in opposition to the 26 million whole vacationers in Moscow yearly, it is nonetheless an eight-fold enhance in comparison with 2022 and a 95-fold enhance prior to now eight years, in accordance with figures shared by Nurmukanov.
Final July, Abu Dhabi’s director common for tradition and tourism, Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, posted on his Instagram that he had visited Moscow.
As of early February, there have been 150 flights every week from Moscow to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.
Not like many Western nations, the UAE has maintained good relations with Russia. In January, delegates from each nations signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Settlement (DTAA) between the UAE and Russia, designed to forestall people and companies from being taxed on the identical revenue in each nations.
This deal impacts these residing between the 2 nations and it impacts investments, significantly joint investments made by the 2 nations. Simpler monetary situations and decreased tax burdens may encourage Emiratis and UAE-based expatriates to discover funding and journey alternatives in Russia.
The flood of Russian cash into the town’s housing market is a lot in order that builders are speeding to construct further housing to fulfill Russian tastes. Native publications comparable to Arabian Gulf Enterprise Perception (AGBI) have dubbed these the town’s “Little Moscow communities.”
