UAE Hotels Register Increase in Russian Tourist Influx as Ruble Rebounds

The number of Russian tourists opting to spend vacations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hotels has increased in comparison to the last year, as Russian ruble is actively growing against the dollar.

DUBAI (Sputnik) — Dubai hotels Rixos the Palm, Hospitality Management Holdings hotels (Ajman Palace Hotel, Coral Beach Resort Sharjah, Coral Dubai Deira Hotel) noted a significant increase in the number of Russian tourists year-on-year, the National reported Thursday.

"We expected to do better this month than the last as the ruble had strengthened, oil prices stabilized and destinations such as Egypt and Turkey are closed due to the security reasons," Dennis Dolmatov, the business development manager at luxurious tourism firm Destinations of the World, told the newspaper.

UAE emirate Ras Al Khaimah tourism authorities said that arrivals from Russia during the first 11 months of 2016 jumped by 17 percent, while the number of Russian tourists in November increased by 53 percent, according to the newspaper.

The Russian economy suffered a setback in 2014, as the ruble lost about half of its value against the US dollar amid low global oil prices and Western economic sanctions imposed against Russia on the pretext of the internal situation in Ukraine.

The Russian economic outlook has improved in the recent months, as ruble continues to grow against US dollar, reaching a new high since July 2015 on Thursday.

Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!