The new visa is a highly attractive proposition for people from nearby countries, especially from the Indian subcontinent

Dubai’s tourism body is working with authorities to roll out five-year multiple-entry tourist visa on a much bigger scale in order to attract more tourists, said a senior official on Thursday.

The five-year tourist visa has been introduced as part of the UAE’s sweeping visa reforms to attract more talent to the country. This new visa is also a very attractive proposition for people from nearby countries, especially from the Indian subcontinent.

The multiple-entry tourist visa is also quite popular among residents who want to bring their parents to the UAE numerous times during the year, as this new visa eases the travel and entry procedures of their parents.

“The five-year tourist visa response has been good, but right now it has been rolled out softly. We are working with authorities closely to ensure that we roll out on a much bigger scale very soon – because the multi-entry visa will again help us a lot (in terms of attracting tourists), especially with the nearby region,” said Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

“For example, India already [accounts for] over a million visitors to the city in the first 10 months. So if they have a multi-entry visa, for them Dubai is en route to Europe and the US. So, it makes it much easier for them to stop over, and to come for events and concerts becomes very easy. It is something [with which] we are working very closely with the authorities and hopefully, we will be rolling that out on a much bigger scale,” he told Khaleej Times, in an interview on Thursday at the Skift Global Forum East.

India is the top source market for Dubai and the UAE with millions of tourists visiting the emirate every year. The latest data showed 1.438 million Indians visiting Dubai during January-October 2022 period.

“We will also put a heavy campaign behind it as well. Now we have rolled out it within the industry and in specific markets. We don’t want to get stuck in a situation where there is a massive load of requests coming in and we are trying to sift through it. We want to make sure that that system is in place in a much bigger way,” he added.

He further revealed that the aim is also to get to a stage where people can apply for a five-year visa from Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing digital platform.