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 for Dubai. 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.
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).
India remained the biggest international travel source market for Dubai in calendar year 2021 with 9.1 lakh visitors. Mega spoting events like the IPL, T20 World Cup as well as Expo 2020 had seen a large number of people travelling from India to the UAE – a popular international destination for Indian travellers.
Indian Nationals with a normal passport who are travelling to or from India via Dubai can obtain a visa on arrival in Dubai for a maximum stay of 14 days provided they:
- Have a visitor visa or a green card issued by the United States of America, or
- A residence visa issued by the United Kingdom or European Union
The visa issued by United States, United Kingdom or European Union has to be valid for a minimum of 6 months.
Indian Tourists Visiting Dubai in Increasing Numbers
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.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME – Arabian Travel Market, said: “The global pandemic had a major impact on India’s travel sector but, as our industry’s global post-pandemic recovery continues to gather pace, Indian tourists appear eager to return to their favourite Middle Eastern destinations.”
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.
Join our social community on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TripAdvisor √√
