Abu Dhabi targets India market

Abu Dhabi is keen to tap India's growing outbound tourism market as the country rises up the UAE capital's hotel guest rankings, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said Tuesday in a statement.The tourism body will lead a three-city road show in India next week which will see the destination and 12 of its key stakeholders take their expanding tourism proposition to trade and media in Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai. The Indian road show, which follows a successful seven-city European road show in July, will begin in Mumbai on September 12, then go to New Delhi two days later and end in Chennai on September 16, ADTA said.It added that the move comes as India, in the first seven months of this year, became Abu Dhabi's second largest international source of hotel guests after the UK, accounting for 58,724, a 25 per cent rise over the same period in 2010. In terms of guest nights in the first seven months, India was the third largest international source of visitors after the UK and the US, accounting for 235,695 — a 52 per cent rise over the same period last year."The excellent air access, allied with market proximity and close business and social ties between Abu Dhabi and India, provides us with a strong competitive advantage to capitalise on the undoubted growth potential of India's outbound tourism market," Dayne Lim, ADTA's Product Development Director, said in a statement. He added that strong air links between India and Abu Dhabi are being served by Air India, Jet Airways and Etihad Airways, which operate a total of 52 flights a week to eight Indian cities. Elaborating on the road show, Lim said the event would aim to achieve three significant objectives — to showcase Abu Dhabi's expanding range of hospitality, events and attractions products; strengthen the distribution and packaging channels of these products, and deepen ADTA's market insights for valuable input to the authority's future product development. According to ADTA, the Abu Dhabi-based stakeholders pursuing the Indian segment will include Rotana Hotels; MSC Cruises — the European operator which will home port in Abu Dhabi for the first time this winter; Etihad Airways; Rocco Forte Abu Dhabi; Jumeirah Etihad Towers; Aloft Hotel; InterContinental Abu Dhabi and Grand Continental Flamingo Hotel among others.India is one of the world's fastest growing tourism markets, and the number of Indians travelling abroad annually exceeded 16 million by the end of 2010, with double-digit growth rates being forecast over this decade. "We have been monitoring the Indian outbound market for some time and now, in line with our infrastructural and product expansions as well as support from our valued stakeholders, is the opportune time for us to capitalise," said Lim.Meanwhile, record levels for hotel guests in Abu Dhabi in July pushed occupancy levels up nine per cent to 65 per cent with overall revenues increasing six per cent to Dh271 million, ADTA said on Sunday. It also said that approximately 189,000 guests stayed in Abu Dhabi's hotels and hotel apartments in July, with a surge in visitors from the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC). Year-to-date occupancy levels, meanwhile, were up 10 per cent to 70 per cent, with the UK emerging as the top international source. From / Gulf News