The number of tourists from India travelling to the GCC will increase by as much as 81% by 2024, according to new research.
New data published in advance of the Arabian Travel Market 2020 says that the number will rise to 9.8 million within the next five years from last year’s recorded figure of just 5.4 million.
Destinations all over the Middle East are gearing up to show off their newest offerings at the Arabian Travel Market 2020, which is to be held in April of next year at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Over 20% of the entire outbound market of India will be travelling to the GCC by 2024, according to Colliers International.
The demand will be underpinned by leisure and business.
The exhibition director for the Arabian Travel Market for the Middle East, Danielle Curtis, says that the number of visitors coming to the GCC does not show any signs of slowing down, and India will likely stay a top source market.
Curtis adds that the projected tourist increase will offer a big boost to the tourism industry in the region in the coming years.
The growth projections are supported by various important regional stakeholders, from mega-events and F&B venues to theme parks, malls, immigration initiatives, hotels and resorts – all things that Indian travellers find appealing.
This growth is being witnessed first-hand by the Arabian Travel Market, with 10% of all buyers at the 2019 show being from India.
Curtis notes that they are still just scratching the surface of the potential of the Indian market, with the middle class of the country just 3% of the overall population and average wages expected to quadruple by 2030.
2.89 million Indian tourists came to the United Arab Emirates last year, and that figure is likely to reach 5.29 million within the next five years.
This is a CAGR increase of 11%, according to Colliers International, which is the Arabian Travel Market’s official research partner.
India also remains at number one in the list of inbound tourism’s source markets for Dubai, with nearly a million tourists from India coming to the emirate in the first six months of this year.
Although the UAE may be leading the field of comparative growth, increases of around 10% are also expected to be witnessed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman by 2024.
The growth is being driven by a new generation of GCC leisure attractions as well as extra airline routes and the growing popularity of eco-tourism and adventure, among other factors.
Indian tourists in 2018 were responsible for around 26.1m of all outbound trips, with UNWTO reports predicting that the figure will rise to 92% and over 50m within just two years.
Anyone who is travelling to the UAE or anywhere in the GCC should take out travel insurance.
Travel insurance is a great way to protect tourists from all nations from the possible financial downsides of travel, which can include lost luggage or cancelled flights.
