In a turn around of sorts, Dubai is slowly beginning to realize that Indians can have some real economic power. Dubai is an ideal tourist destination for Indians. With it’s close proximity, abundance of Indians, and best of all CHEAP SHOPPING, Dubai makes a great short haul destination for Indians looking for a vacation outside their own country. So far, Indians have been coming as tourists, even though the Dubai government has not made any real efforts to target Indian tourists. Dubai’s efforts have so far been focused on tourists from the West. But, Dubai is discovering that there is a gold mine in their backyard, i.e. India.
Carl Vaz, the director of Dubai Tourism in India has been charged with increasing the number of Indian tourists coming to Dubai. According to Carl Vaz, “An estimated 398,000 Indian tourists visit Dubai every year. And this figure is exclusive of the number of Indians who go there for employment purposes. But now we are aiming at making this number touch the 430,000 mark by the end of this year,‘
How do they plan to achieve an increase in the number of Indian tourists coming to Dubai? Well, the plan seems to be to target the second-tier cities. Carl Vaz says “To begin with, we are targeting the population of the tier 2 cities like Chandigarh, Nagpur and Coimbatore“.
The average price of a 3 day package for a couple is about Rs 50,000. This includes acommodation in a 4 star hotel, a ship cruise and a Dubai city tour. The intent is to increase the average stay from the 3 days to 7 days.
So, if you are a resident of cities like Chandigarh, Nagpur, Coimbatore etc. expect to see many promotions and offers that promote Dubai.