A group of 25 companies will visit India to drum up business for Abu Dhabi’s tourism sector over the next few days.
Etihad Airways, Al Diar Hotels and The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi are among the group that will visit New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
The trade mission, organised by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (ADTCA), seeks to capitalise on rapid growth in the number of Indians visiting the UAE.
In the first nine months of the year, 14,540 Indian tourists visited the UAE, 31 per cent more than the same period last year.
Many of the tourists have been visiting the country’s luxury destinations.
“There is an increasing number of well-travelled, cosmopolitan Indian elites, movie personalities, business moguls and entrepreneurs,” said Kulwant Singh, the managing director of Lama Tours and Holidays.
Following Etihad’s recent acquisition of a minority equity stake in Jet Airways, connectivity between the Indian tourist market and Abu Dhabi is certain to benefit.
Mubarak Al Nuaimi, a director at ADTCA, said: “With enhanced air accessibility via Etihad’s network ... the Indian market, which is now our largest overseas source market for hotel guests, has enormous growth potential.”
The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi estimates that 1.75 million Indians live in the UAE.
abouyamourn@thenational.ae