Crime rate in the country, including Dubai, is lower than many other places on earth, but it doesn’t mean everyone isn’t at risk for some kind of theft or that people are angels.
UAE residents have recently been advised to take precautions when they go out, or to be wary of fraudsters on the streets.
They should be extra careful, especially when they’re approached by strangers.
In their latest advisory, the Dubai Police has indicated that some thieves are probably on the prowl in the city, pretending to be tourists.
They may approach any unsuspecting individual and pretend to ask about the latest foreign exchange rates.
Beware of thieves acting as tourists, who enquire about currencies and exchange rates, the Dubai Police said on Twitter.
It is not clear how these thieves exactly operate, but it’s better to be careful than be sorry.
According to the UAE’s Ministry of Interior, 98.6 per cent of residents still feel it is safe and secure to walk out at night in the UAE, making the country the world’s second safest place to live in.
We are second after Singapore. UAE’s policies and strategies were behind the achievements to make the country one of the safest countries in the world, said Lt General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, deputy chairman of police and public security in Dubai last May.
The Dubai Police had said in January that the number of serious crimes committed in the emirate dropped by 15 per cent in 2017 when compared to a year earlier.
The number of unsolved crimes also fell by 14 per cent during the same period.
A record-breaking number of international tourists have visited the United Arab Emirates in 2017, making Dubai the fourth most visited city in the world.
15.79 million tourists visited the country last year, which is 6.2 percent more than in 2016, when the country welcomed 14.9 million visitors.
The latest data published by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), show that Dubai is getting closer to its 2020 tourism target.
Of course which is to welcome 20 million tourists within a year, as last year’s growth rate has exceeded the 5 per cent achieved in 2016.
Many factors have affected the tourism in the UAE to grow.
Among other the Dubai Tourism’s ongoing collaboration with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the multi-awarded #BeMyGuest campaign which potrays Khan’s journey across a series of short films that see him taking visitors to Dubai.
On the other hand, the newly minted visa-on-arrival status for both Russian and Chinese tourists, has affected the number of visitors from both countries.
The facilitation of visa norms has caused the number of visitors from China to increase for 41 percent and the number of Russian tourists for 121 percent.
Dubai offers a lot of tourist attractions for travelers from around the world and not only popular landmarks like the Burj Khalifa.
Last year alone the country has invested in a number of developments in order to further broad Dubai’s appeal to a wide spectrum of visitors.
City’s newest beachfront district La Mer, the Etihad Museum and La Perle in Habtoor City have all been inaugurated last year and are expected to boost the number of visitors this year even more.
Top ten countries with most tourists coming from, were as follows 2017:
- India topped the list, with two million annual visitors to the UAE, keeping its place for another year running. 15 percent more people from India visited the country this year, than in 2016.
- Saudi Arabia was again in the second place contributing a total of 1.53 million tourists in 2017. Despite an overall 7 decrease of visitors, it remained the highest driver of traffic volumes from within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
- The United Kingdom delivered 1.27 million travelers, 2 percent more in comparison to 2016, despite Brexit.
- Oman, 682 thousand of this year’s visitors were from Oman.
- China saw 764 thousand of its nationals visiting the UAE, 41 percent more than the previous year, which was a lot affected by the new visa facilitation which allows citizens to obtain a visa-on-arrival.
- USA, 633 thousand of this year’s visitors were from the United States of America.
- Pakistan saw little increase with 598 thousand of its residents visiting the UAE.
- Russia delivered 530 thousand visitors, scoring the highest increase of visitors with 121 percent more than in 2016. Just as in the case of China, the increase was affected by the new policy of visa-on-arrival.
- Germany, 506 thousand of this year’s visitors were from Germany.
- Iran, And 503 thousand of this year’s visitors were from Iran.
Tourism Observer
