The National Council for Tourism and Antiquities has launched a road show in India comprising tourism representatives from national airline companies, travel and tourism groups and hotels to promote tourism to India and to provide them with special offers tailored to meet the Indian market needs.
Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb Al Muhairi, Director-General of the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities, said that the Indian market is one of the major markets contributing to the tourism industry in the world, and the UAE in particular, due to the geographical proximity and the ancient cultural ties between India and the Gulf.
He added that the convoy is visiting three of India's largest cities, New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. It will also meet with a large number of specialists, decision makers, and other significant figures representing various sectors in the Indian tourism industry. The meetings intend to introduce them to UAE's tourism landmarks and to finalise deals between companies in the two countries regarding touristic packages for the future.
He said that the road show, organised under the hashtag "VisitUAE", was launched by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth Community Development, and Chairman of the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities, to promote UAE tourism through information and pictures.
Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb Al Muhairi said that the road show is the second tourism promotion convoy to India. The first was in 2012, and it achieved very good results, and that prompted many companies and organisations to advocate for the second convoy which has been organised in cooperation with strategic partners from local tourism associations in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah.
He added that the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities invited more than 200 companies in each of the Indian cities the convoy plans to visit to attend meetings.
Abdullah Al Hammadi, Director of Overseas Promotion of the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities, said that the first stop in New Delhi witnessed a turnout that exceeded expectations from Indian companies, who were very interested in organising trips to the UAE.
Al Hammadi noted that the road show greatly grabbed Indian media attention, which proved how interested the Indian market is in UAE tourism, and that during the meetings held between the UAE side and Indian companies, several integrated package tours were created.