India Remains Key Source Market for GCC

April 5, 2022

As Indian flight queries for the UAE and Egypt witness a significant uptick, and the country retains its position as Dubai’s biggest source market.

With India’s travel industry projected to account for 29 million outbound trips per year by 2025, according to analysis from GlobalData, and ResearchandMarkets.com predicting its outbound tourism market will surpass $42 billion by the end of 2024, ATM 2022 will offer a timely opportunity to explore the vast potential offered by the country’s travel, tourism and hospitality sector.

Data from Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) shows that the country ranked top of the emirate’s source market list for 2021, accounting for 910,000 inbound visitors, and short-haul flight queries for destinations including Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Egypt have witnessed a 30 percent uptick among Indian tourists, according to Thomas Cook (India).

The number of inbound tourists travelling from India to the UAE has witnessed a 50 percent increase of late, with VFS Global processing 40,000 travel visas since Dubai reopened its borders following the pandemic.

With the reopening of the Indian skies, flights to and from India now reach 3,250 flights per week by 66 airlines. Emirates alone is now back to pre-pandemic frequencies, operating 170 weekly flights to nine cities, which underscores the importance of the Indian market for the region.

The UAE remains one of the most Covid-secure countries on the planet, with consistently low case rates and robust measures to ensure tourists’ safety at every stage of their visit. Like its neighbouring emirates, Dubai is committed to maintaining the highest hygiene and safety standards. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has endorsed its pandemic management, awarding the city a ‘Safe Travels’ stamp.