Mubasher: The number of European visitors to the GCC region is expected to grow by 17% during the period from 2018 to 2020, according to the latest data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2018, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 22 to 25 April.
This increase is forecast to be driven by extra flights, routes, competitive fares, and the higher number of mid-market hotels throughout the Gulf region.
“As many as 24.6 million EU residents will travel to the GCC between now and 2020, an additional four million travellers when compared to figures for 2015 – 2017,” according to Arabian Travel Market’s research partner, Colliers International.
European visitors to the region still prefer the UAE and Saudi Arabia as their destinations, with an 81% of the projected business and leisure travellers.
The UAE is expected to receive 14.5 million visitors, Saudi Arabia is likely to welcome 5.4 million, while Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait are expected to host 2.21 million, 1.72 million, and 738,000 visitors, respectively, by 2020.
Senior exhibition director at Arabian Travel Market, Simon Press, said, “While European tourists have previously travelled to the GCC for its luxury resorts, the growing numbers of millennial travelers, middle-class tourists and corporate travellers on a budget, are slowly changing traditional market trends, as is the growth in affordable, mid-market hotels combined with an increase in low-cost flights.”
In the coming three years, GCC visitors to Europe will grow 36%, with a forecasted 8.5 million GCC residents projected to visit Europe.
