165% surge in UAE domestic travel searches for summer

Domestic travel in the UAE has surged this summer, with searches for local trips jumping 165% in late June, new Skyscanner data shows. 

This trend carried strongly into July, marking the busiest month for staycations across the emirates, highlighting how residents are increasingly choosing to explore the wide range of cultural, nature and adventure destinations across the UAE. 

Dubai topped the charts as the leading staycation destination, while also ranking as the fifth most popular global location for hotel searches between June and August. 

This comes amid record-breaking 2025 numbers, with Dubai welcoming 8.68 million international tourists in the first five months — a 7% increase year-on-year — and firmly on pace to surpass last year’s all-time high of 18.72 million visitors.