Indians view UAE as venue for their big fat weddings

Ahmed Al Banna, UAE’s Ambassador to India, and other dignitaries visit the UAE Pavilion at the OTM Tourism Trade fair. Subhash Sharma for The National

Above, the UAE pavilion at OTM in Mumbai, a three-day travel trade show. Subhash Sharma for The National

Thhe OTM Tourism Trade fair at Mumbai. Subhash Sharma for The National

MUMBAI // Abu Dhabi is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for the big fat traditional Indian wedding, which is making a larger contribution to the emirate’s tourism industry.

“A very new thing happening is honeymoons and weddings,” said Bejan Dinshaw, the India country manager for the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, who was attending the OTM in Mumbai, a three-day travel trade show, which started on Tuesday.

“Last year at the Emirates Palace alone there were something like six Indian weddings. The hoteliers love it because for one week your property is chock-a-block.”

Abu Dhabi is also hoping to attract more Indians to take cruises from the emirate, he said.

Abu Dhabi is expecting 15 to 17 per cent growth in the number of Indian tourists this year, despite tourism flows from India to the UAE taking a hit in recent months because of India’s demonetisation move, when the country’s two highest-value banknotes were suddenly banned in November, Mr Dinshaw said.

But he said that Abu Dhabi had already “bounced back” from the effect of demonetisation and he did not believe it was having an impact “any more”.

India is the largest source market for tourists to Abu Dhabi.

Mr Dinshaw said that Abu Dhabi had been aggressive in its efforts targeting India for tourists through roadshows, for example, but added that it was the growing aviation links, particularly the partnership between Etihad Airways and Jet Airways that was fuelling the increased tourism flows to the emirate.

“You are offering nearly 300 flights across 15 destinations,” he said.

“You can go from metro cities to Abu Dhabi, you can go from tier 2 cities to Abu Dhabi.”

The number of Indian visitors to the UAE rose to 2.3 million last year, a 9 per cent increase on 2015, making up 8.5 per cent of the UAE’s total visitors, according to the UAE’s Ministry of Economy.

The UAE is the “focus country” of the OTM travel exhibition, which features 60 countries, all hoping to grab a share of India’s burgeoning outbound tourism sector.

With a population of more than 1.2 billion, its young demographics and rising incomes, the number of Indians travelling abroad is expected to surge over the coming years.

A total of 20.38 million Indians travelled abroad in 2015, up by 11.1 per cent on 2014, according to India’s ministry of tourism.

“The aim of our participation is to promote the UAE as a key destination by showcasing the attractions,” said Abdullah Al Hammadi, the director of the Tourism Department of the Ministry of Economy.

Hamad bin Mejren, the senior vice president of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said that “flight connectivity” between Dubai and India would help the emirate to draw larger numbers of Indian tourists. “I expect to see even further growth,” he said.

Russel Sharpe, the chief operating officer at Citymax Hotels in Dubai, said that the impact from demonetisation had been “very bad”. He said the hotel chain had experienced a decline of about 15 per cent in its India business last month compared to January last year because of the move.

“The average Indian is hesitating,” Mr Sharpe said.

The Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Fujairah and Sharjah tourism authorities are also participating at the OTM event as part of the Ministry of Economy’s Visit UAE stand, alongside hotels, tour companies and Emirates airline.

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