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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What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')
Fulham 0
Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)
Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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