2024 was an amazing year for tourism in Dubai. The city saw a constant growth in international tourism and hosted about 18.72 million overnight visitors. It is a 9% rise from the previous year. Moreover, the tourist influx was the highest from South Asia, especially India. India always continues to be a crucial market.
Gulf Tiger Steps Up Travel Promotion in India’s Regional Hubs
The Director of Proximity Markets at Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, Bader Ali Habib, in one of the interviews, mentioned that Dubai is planning promotional strategies to make it the best holiday destination for Indian travelers. Besides, the focus will be on committing to sustainable tourism.
Furthermore, DET also organized road shows in four Indian cities- Kolkata, Bengaluru, Kochi, and Chennai. The aim was to introduce the travel trade fraternity in the Tier II Indian cities to the latest travel options in Dubai. The roadshow turned out to be an exceptional networking opportunity with many Dubai Tourism stakeholders.
As per the statements by DET, over 150 travel trade partners attended the trade engagement program in every city. So, it led to new networks with the stakeholders. Moreover, it also enhanced their knowledge about Dubai.
In the first half of 2022, Dubai welcomed almost 858,000 Indian travelers. Quite obviously, India became one of the primary source markets.
Bader Ali Habib, South Asia International Operations Region Head of DET, said Dubai sees positive chances to connect with the Tier II Indian cities. After all, the Tier II Indian cities have a strong economic growth trajectory. Also, people here have a strong appetite for traveling and rising purchasing power. Besides, Dubai is easy to reach from all Tier II Indian cities. He also added that the Tier II citizens have unique travel patterns and behavior. Furthermore, the growing interest of Indians in Dubai can be beneficial to enter the market with a more personalized approach.
Bader Ali Habib said, “India is the largest tourism market for Dubai. So, we are aiming for more customized and data-driven efforts that will match the travel preferences of our audiences. Moreover, the B2B activities have increased to facilitate trade in small Indian cities. We even partnered with the popular travel agencies offering Dubai tour packages from Kolkata, Chennai, Rajkot, and other top Indian cities, OTAs, and B2B travel platforms. We hope these partnerships will help in addressing different target audiences and push the Dubai travel packages to all.”
