STOPOVER VISAS PUT TOURISM CHIEFS IN BULLISH MOOD

▶ At the Arabian Travel Market, hotels and tour operators await a date for the short-stop visits to start, allowing visitors a flying visit, so they come back to see, and spend, more

It’s a fantastic opportunity and a very good move. People have a checklist but it’s also about showing them there are alternatives that involve human connections NADA BADRAN Wander with Nada

Tourism chiefs and tour operators say proposals to introduce visit visas for transit passengers will boost the economy, push visitors to travel to other emirates and inspire people to return for a longer visit.

“This move is a very welcome step in the right direction,” said Issam Kazim, the chief executive of Dubai Tourism. “We want to move from 10 million visitors in 2012 to 20 million a year by 2020, and we need to focus on a much wider pool.”

The increasing number of Indian visitors means those citizens travelling through the UAE are an obvious target.

“Our campaigns have been significantly increasing the number of Indian visitors and it’s growing,” Mr Kazim said. “The potential is big so that it’s the easiest one to point to.”

The UAE Cabinet outlined proposals for stopover visas about a week ago. It has not yet announced when they will be available or how much they will cost but a working group to prepare the new policy has been established.

Indians, Pakistanis and people from parts of the Arab world, Africa and South America require a visa for the UAE. But Indian visitors can stop over here if they have a visa for the United States.

Nandan Porob, the sales manager at Al Mulla Tours, said he had seen much growth in this market and believed it would now extend to other nationalities, particularly those from Asia and Africa.

“Many will come to shop. It can be a shopping stopover,” said Mr Porob, whose company organises half-day Dubai tours of major landmarks for about Dh400. “Stopover tourism is going to be big.”

In Dubai, cultural tours of the old city are popular, challenging perceptions that the city is all malls and skyscrapers.

Nada Badran runs walking tours of the spice markets of Deira and around the historic heart of the Creek through her Wander with Nada tour company.

Ms Badran had about 300 clients in 2016 when she launched her business. That grew to 700 last year. She now has to turn people away because of the demand. Her company has also surged up the TripAdvisor rankings, which is how most people find her.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity and a very good move,” she said of the visa plans. “People have a checklist but it’s also about showing them there are alternatives that involve human connections.”

Ms Badran said the new proposals could turn transit passengers into tourists and inspire them to return for a holiday.

“During peak times, though, it may lead to overcrowding in major attractions, which could deteriorate the experience for many, including locals,” she said.

Seawings Dubai has been operating aerial tours across the city for the past 10 years.

“We would benefit massively,” said Nik Shetty, a sales official. “It would open up a huge pool of potential business for Dubai.”

The 45-minute tour offered by Seawings costs Dh1,780, while the snapshot is 20 minutes and costs Dh895.

Mr Shetty said the company could pick people up at the airport and have them in plane and back at the airport in a matter of hours.

“In a six-hour layover, you don’t want to waste two or three hours travelling so why not see all of it in 20 to 45 minutes?” he said.

Critical to the proposals is aviation. The most recent figures show that Dubai is now the busiest airport in the world, based on international passengers.

Annual passenger traffic at Dubai International reached 88.2 million last year, the airport’s operators said, and it is home to the world’s biggest long-haul carrier, Emirates.

Thierry Antinori, the executive vice president at Emirates, also welcomed the visa move. The airline runs stopover programmes but will possibly offer tailored packages aimed at these new tourists.

“Seventy per cent of passengers transit through Dubai airport and we can propose this to them in a relevant way,” Mr Antinori said. “It’s one more reason to fly through Dubai and makes it and the UAE even more of a transit point.

“Dubai is a point of entry for customers going to Ras Al Khaimah and Ajman, and Fujairah and Yas. This development will benefit all of the UAE.”

Hotels close to the airport could also gain. Copthorne Dubai is one, and for manager Glenn Nobbs this could make all the difference.

“It’s very easy for someone who has 12 hours to stay here and freshen up so it will generate extra income into the city and will be a good thing,” Mr Nobbs said.

Harold Goodwin, an adviser to the World Travel Market, echoes this sentiment.

“It’s a great opportunity but what you need to think carefully about is how you distribute the increased number of visitors to benefit the broader tourism economy,” he said.