Indian Outbound Market To GCC Expected To Increase 50% By 2021

Around nine million Indians are expected to travel to the GCC by 2021, according to the latest figures from Colliers International, as destinations throughout the Middle East prepare to showcase their latest offering at Arabian Travel Market, which is being held at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22-25 2018.

Reports from the UNWTO suggest the outbound Indian travel market will grow to 50 million by 2021, with the average spend per trip by Indian travellers also increasing – UNWTO statistics reveal India is among the top 12 source markets globally that showed double digit growth in expenditure in 2016 – visitor spend reached a total of US$23.1 billion in 2016, up 15.1% year-on-year.

Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, ATM, said: “Surprisingly, there are just over 65 million passport holders in India out of a population of around 1.3 billion. Still it is no surprise that the growth of the global travel industry is being led by Asian travellers and the Middle East region can expect to benefit, with Indian tourist arrivals expected to grow by CAGR of 7-8%.