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Abu Dhabi has set eyes on major tier II and III Indian towns to reach out to prospective tourists.
With increasing air connectivity between Indian cities and Abu Dhabi, the flow of Indian tourists to the Gulf destination has been on the rise.
To market itself as an ideal tourism spot amongst backpackers, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) has planned a series of promotional events and workshops in Chandigarh, Lucknow and Kolkata.
"So far, we had been concentrating on the Indian metros, which would in any case continue to grow for us. Now, we want to also focus on smaller cities," TCA Country Manager (India) Bejan Dinshaw told Business Standard here today.
He said while the air connectivity was getting better in India, the domestic tourists were also willing to try new and exotic destinations. "We are focussing on all types of travellers, including leisure, business, wedding, corporate etc."
Abu Dhabi, he said, was fast becoming a hotspot for high-end Indian traveller and now TCA wanted to promote it as a value-for-money tourist spot for the middle class travellers.
Over two consecutive years, Abu Dhabi hotels have registered double-digit growth from the Indian market, establishing it as the Emirate's largest overseas source market.
In 2014 calendar, Abu Dhabi clocked arrival of over 2.31 lakh Indian hotel guests at a growth rate of 32% over previous year. These guests delivered over 8.5 lakh guest nights, up 23% year-on-year.
"We are confident the growth in arrival of Indian tourists to Abu Dhabi would continue and touch almost 35%," Dinshaw said.
In November 2014, Jet Airways had launched its maiden direct flight from Lucknow to Abu Dhabi.
