INDIA EMERGES AS TOP SOURCE MARKET FOR DUBAI TOURISM IN 2015
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India is the top international source market for Dubai as per the latest 2015 annual figures revealed by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism. With a spectacular year-on-year growth of 26 per cent, bringing in over 1.6 million tourists, India was the second fastest growing top 10 source market for Dubai Tourism in 2015.
Overall, Dubai attracted more than 14.2 million overnight visitors, recording a strong 7.5 per cent increase over 2014 – double the United Nations World Travel Organisation’s (UNWTO) projected three to four per cent global travel growth for the same period. South Asia has been one of the largest regions by volume bringing in 2.3 million visitors reflecting a 21.7 per cent increase versus 2014.
His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism said, “2015 has been a very strong year for Dubai’s travel sector with double the global industry growth levels firming up our position as the fourth most visited city in the world. South Asia, especially India, has performed phenomenally well. India has always been a key market for us and we believe our efforts to adopt a highly segment-specific approach in cities with the highest connectivity and latent capacity, as well as building stronger trade ties in market with digital travel intermediaries, have yielded results and will continue to enable Dubai capture share of the growing Indian upper middle-class family and business segments.”
“In addition to strong tourism ties, 2015 saw progressive bilateral talks between our two nations spurred by the state visit from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UAE, which further cemented our deep-rooted relationships and will be a cornerstone of future collaboration and connectivity.”
Tourism-related infrastructure and capacity enhancement investment is expected to gain momentum in 2016 through more segment-specific offerings such as culture and heritage attractions and family-oriented theme parks, in addition to continued focus on strengthening the business environment that underscores Dubai’s pursuit of becoming the number one destination for travel, business and events. Dubai will be steadily implementing projects to develop, enhance and promote the core pillars of Dubai’s destination offering.