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July 30, 2001
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Money > Business Headlines > Report July 30, 2001 |
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Arab tourists to India on the riseMridula Krishna in Dubai More and more Arab tourists are visiting India, official figures show. Gour Kanjilal, regional director of the Indian government's tourist office, said 119,916 Arab tourists travelled to India in 2000, a 13 per cent increase over the previous year. The majority of them were from the United Arab Emirates (20,977), Oman (16,821), Bahrain (13,349), Kuwait (8,915) and Saudi Arabia (14,584). Kanjilal said the actual number of travelers from the Middle East to India could be more since the figures included only Arab nationals. Another 120,000 non-resident Indians and 30,000 European and American expatriates also visited India from this region. The total tourist arrivals in India during 2000 at 2.6 million grew 5 per cent over the previous year, he said. "Though in global terms, arrival figures from the Middle East seem limited, travelers from this region are high spenders and they visit India at a time when India needs them the most. They visit India during the summer, which are off-season months in India," Kanjilal said. "We need to promote niche markets aimed at increasing spending and the length of stay. Also, we will be focusing on both the younger and mature women travelers as well as students. This is a growing segment which we need to tap. Targeting the Gulf and the Middle East region is high on the list of priorities for India's tourism industry." India will be taking part at Mediterranean Travel fair in Cairo September 24-26 to promote the country as a tourist destination. "Outbound travel from the Middle East is expected to grow because of the improved economy in the region. The recession is nearly over and oil prices have shown an upward trend," Kanjilal added. Meanwhile, according to a report, residents of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries -- the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait -- spent $27 billion on travel last year. Indo-Asian News Service |
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