UAE ready for surge in Indian tourists
New attractions and relaxed visa rules for US visa holders are behind the boom.
dubai — The UAE expects to see exponential growth in global tourist arrivals over the next four years with its showpiece holiday haven Dubai pulling out all stops to lure increased visitor traffic from India, one of its prime source markets.
Dubai, which has already seen a 20 per cent surge in visitor traffic from India in the first nine months, is expecting a remarkable upswing in tourist flow on the back of a spate of soon-to-be unveiled breathtaking attractions including Dubai Safari, The Dubai Eye and Dubai Frame, on top a string of tourist delights it has on offer.
Travel industry experts said one of the key stimulants for this uptick in tourist flow to the UAE is the recently unveiled relaxed entry rules for Indian passport holders with US visa.
Currently, the further relaxation of tourist visa rules is under consideration, including the possibility of extending onarrival visas to Indians, they said.
While around nine million Indians are expected to travel to the GCC by 2021, according to the latest figures from Colliers International, Dubai — the most sought-after travel destination in the Middle East and the fourth most popular destination in the world for holiday-makers — hopes to woo a bulk of that traffic as it prepares to host the spectacular Expo 2020 Dubai, which will see the city’s visitor traffic hitting 20 million.
Already, India holds the top spot on Dubai’s list of source markets for inbound tourism, with 1,478,000 Indian tourists arriving in the city between January and September, registering a significant 20 per cent rise over the same period in 2016.
The UAE, ranked 29th globally in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017, and the second safest country in the world for tourists as well, has plenty to offer to visitors, including the latest in a long list of irresistible attractions such as just- opened The Louvre Abu Dhabi and other fascinating attractions such as the Dubai Canal and Dubai Parks & Resorts.
Reports from the UN World Travel Organisation (UNWTO) suggest the outbound Indian travel market would grow to 50 million by 2021, with the average spend per trip by Indian travellers also increasing.
UNWTO statistics reveal India is among the top 12 source markets globally that showed double digit growth in expenditure in 2016 — visitor spend reached a total of $23.1 billion in 2016, up 15.1 per cent yearon-year.
“The influx of Indian visitors to the GCC shows no sign of abating and is expected to continue rising, with the added benefit of an increase in the average spent by Indians on outbound travel,” said Simon Press, senior exhibition director of the Arabian Travel Market.
Passport holders
He said while surprisingly there are just over 65 million passport holders in India out of a population of around 1.3 billion, it is no surprise that the growth of the global travel industry is being led by Asian travellers and the Middle East region can expect to benefit, with Indian tourist arrivals expected to grow by compound annual growth rate of seven to eight per cent.
“We have witnessed this growth first hand with ATM 2017 welcoming 54 per cent more visitors from India compared to 2014,” said Press.
Over the five-year period from 2012 to 2016, the average percentage of Indian arrivals out of total arrivals in Kuwait was 15.4 per cent, Saudi Arabia 10.6 per cent, Bahrain 17.6 per cent, Oman 11.2 per cent and the UAE 9.8 per cent.
According to the ATM’s official research partner, Colliers, by 2021, this is expected to increase to 17.12 per cent for Kuwait, 11.88 per cent for Saudi Arabia, 19.26 per cent for Bahrain, 10.8 per cent for the UAE and 11.9 per cent for Oman, the last of which was helped in no small terms by a decision in October when the sultanate approved on-arrival visas up to a period of one month for Indians holding valid US, UK, Canada, Australia or Schengen visas.
In Bahrain, Indians are eligible for Visit- e-Visa, which means there is no need to have a physical visa stamped in their passports prior to arrival in the country.
The Colliers research reveals Indian outbound travel growth is to be driven by the middle-income households rather than the higher-income as the former is expected to grow to nearly 20 per cent (58 million) of the total Indian households by 2021, while the latter will represent less than three per cent (6.5 million).
India is also attracting visitors from the GCC, which is a top source market for medical tourism, and is expected to grow, as an entire industry, to $8 billion by 2020 from the $3.9 billion of 2016. West coast resorts such as Goa remain popular with Middle East travellers given its close proximity to the region.
— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com