New Delhi: Dubai is eyeing Indian tourists, especially those from second rung cities like Chandigarh, Nagpur and Coimbatore, and intends to push up the number of visitors from India by 32,000 this year.
Carl Vaz, the director of Dubai tourism in India, is going all out to make Dubai one of the most sought after destinations for Indians.
"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," Carl Vaz, director of Dubai tourism in India, told IANS.
Of the total tourist inflow into a booming Dubai, Indians constitute just 6.3 percent, Vaz said.
"To begin with, we are targeting the population of the tier 2 cities like Chandigarh, Nagpur and Coimbatore," Vaz said.
"There is a great surge of people from small towns and tier 2 cities willing to travel abroad for a vacation. But while the metros are already aware of the holiday destinations, the smaller cities and towns are not as much aware. Hence we are promoting Dubai in such places to trap the market there."
Besides road shows and exhibitions, a number of below-the-line activities are being used for promotion.
"For instance, we give offers like 'Watch a movie and win free tickets to Dubai' or 'Have a happy meal at McDonald's and go to Dubai'. We also tied up with National Geographic to promote Dubai as an ideal holiday destination," he said.
Extensive training for travel and tour operators is another thing that they are focussing on.
An average holiday package from India to Dubai, which they call a weekend getaway, for three nights comes for Rs.50 ,000 for a couple. This includes air tickets, both to and fro, accommodation in a four-star hotel, a ship cruise and a city tour.
"Although this package is quite sought after, we now want to convert the three- day package into seven days. We want people to stay in Dubai for more days," Vaz said.
Dubai is coming up with a number of big projects aimed at attracting tourists from all over the world. Amongst them is Hydropolis, the world's first luxury underwater hotel.
"The entire hotel is submerged under water, except the reception. It includes three elements: the land station, where guests will be welcomed, the connecting tunnel, which will transport people by train to the main area of the hotel, and the 220 suites within the submarine leisure complex.
"It is one of the largest contemporary construction projects in the world, covering an area of 260 hectares, about the size of London's Hyde Park," Vaz said. The hotel's construction, which began in 2005, is scheduled to culminate by the end of this year.
Dubailand, a major competition to Disneyland in Florida, will be another major tourist attraction with 45 mega projects and over 200 tourism, leisure and entertainment sub-projects.
On completion in 2018, the amusement park is expected to be a city divided into six theme worlds. Its first phase will, however, be completed by 2010 and by then it aims to attract 15 million tourists.
Dubai Sports City is yet another large project in the pipeline.
"Dubai Sports City is the world's first purpose-built sports city and will incorporate state-of-the-art sporting venues and academies along with residential and commercial developments," said Vaz.
He also had suggestions for Indian tourism.
"Out of the top five countries in the market of regional tourism, India is one. The rest are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Germany and the UK. So India must concentrate on regional tourism and especially try to attract the non-resident Indian (NRI) community staying abroad," he said.
Vaz said he would like to emulate India's medical tourism. "The Indian tourism department's initiative in health tourism is truly commendable.
"The Dubai Health Care City building which is still under construction will most probably be completed in 2008. After that we will concentrate more on this sphere of medical tourism," he said.
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