{"id":44266,"date":"2026-09-01T09:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=44266"},"modified":"2026-09-01T09:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:19:09","slug":"dubai-looks-to-africa-to-fuel-next-phase-of-tourism-growth","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/dubai-looks-to-africa-to-fuel-next-phase-of-tourism-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Dubai looks to Africa to fuel next phase of tourism growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dubai is setting its sights on attracting more African travellers, with tourism authorities pointing to South Africa (SA) as a key driver of visitor numbers to the emirate.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Data from the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism shows Africa generated roughly 5% of the city&#8217;s total international overnight visitors in 2025. Tourism chiefs now view that figure as a launching pad to tap into further expansion across sub-Saharan Africa, placing particular emphasis on growing markets such as Kenya and Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Khalaf Alaleeli, Assistant Manager for International Operations at the department, highlighted that established commercial and cultural ties continue to make SA a vital source market.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Dubai continues to see strong potential across African markets, with SA remaining an important and established source market,&#8221; Alaleeli said. &#8220;The depth of the South African community in Dubai, strong business and cultural links, and extensive air connectivity create a natural foundation for further tourism growth. Africa accounted for around 5% of Dubai&#8217;s international overnight visitation in 2025, and we see that as a strong foundation. We also see significant potential across markets such as Kenya, Nigeria and other African countries, where Dubai&#8217;s combination of accessibility, diverse experiences and strong air connectivity makes it an attractive destination.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9392,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-44266","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Dubai targets African visitors to drive tourism push","published_date":"2026-09-01 09:18:41","news_description":"Dubai targets African visitors to drive tourism push","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44267,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44266\/revisions\/44267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=44266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}