Abu Dhabi rolls out red carpet to attract more travellers from India

Wider outreach, travel tieups, and easier visa access on offer

Abu Dhabi is pushing the pedal on attracting more travellers from India, its largest international source market by hotel guest volumes and one of the world’s fastest-growing outbound travel markets. 

The capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the largest of its seven emirates has increased its outreach in the Indian market over the past few months, at a time when the West Asia conflict has dented the emirates’ image as a safe haven and a tourist and investment destination.

  “India has long been one of Abu Dhabi’s most important international markets, so our increased engagement reflects the importance we place on the market over the long term,” said Abdulla Yousuf, director of international operations at Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT).

  “We are seeing interest from a wider range of cities beyond the major metropolitan centres. That is why we are expanding our presence across the country through roadshows, destination training, familiarisation visits, joint marketing programmes, and closer collaboration with airline and travel partners,” Yousuf said in an emailed response to questions from Business Standard on why the emirate felt the need to increase its outreach to India and whether there was a large push to undertake an image repair. 

Abu Dhabi’s DCT held roadshows in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, and Chennai in July, where the emirate’s hotels, attractions, destination management companies, and tourism partners shared details of upcoming family attractions, hotel openings, events, and experiences, including Disneyland Abu Dhabi, Sphere Abu Dhabi and the expansion of Warner Bros.

  World Abu Dhabi with a dedicated Harry Potter-themed experience.

  They also highlighted the opening of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in December and enhanced connectivity options, including Air India’s new Navi Mumbai–Abu Dhabi route, to Indian travel advisors, tour operators, and industry stakeholders.

  It has also introduced a programme enabling Indian passport holders who book three hotel nights in Abu Dhabi to receive a complimentary UAE entry visa. On Wednesday, India’s largest travel aggregator, MakeMyTrip, partnered Abu Dhabi’s DCT to offer this facility to travellers.

  Gulf destinations, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, felt the brunt of the Israel-US war with Iran earlier this year, as the conflict destabilised West Asia, raising security risks and shaking investor confidence. However, Abu Dhabi’s DCT is banking on Indian travellers’ intention to return to West Asian destinations. Tourism contributes about 13 per cent to Abu Dhabi’s gross domestic product, even as the emirate seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

 

“In 2025, Abu Dhabi welcomed 436,124 Indian hotel guests, representing year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth of 22 per cent. India was the emirate’s largest international source market by hotel guest volume. Research also shows that 83 per cent of Indian travellers intend to visit Abu Dhabi again, reflecting strong satisfaction with the destination,” Yousuf said.

 

The same year, Abu Dhabi recorded 26.6 million visitors, while hotel revenues rose 19.5 per cent Y-o-Y to AED 9.1 billion. International hotel guests also grew by 10 per cent, according to DCT data.