In an exclusive interaction with Prerna Lamba, Saeed Al Saeed, Destination Marketing Director of Department of Culture and Tourism talks about the recent trends amongst Indian travellers visiting Abu Dhabi. He also shares the attraction points and experiences targeted for the audience at Expo 2020. Excerpts:

Please tell us why do you consider India as an important market?

Firstly, India is the number one source of market for us as it has the biggest number of visitors coming to Abu Dhabi. Secondly, the proximity of the fly time which is almost insignificant as compared to other destinations that Indians would consider. And, thirdly, they share the number of outbound travellers coming out of India based on the population, obviously, but also the increase in middle class and the advantage of having a growing dispensable income for the Indians as a whole is making them look for a lifestyle that Abu Dhabi can cater to. Whether it is from a travel and tourism point of view so that they want to take more trips but also from the refined lifestyle and the level of quality that they can have in Abu Dhabi is something that fits their aspirations as well.

What are the recent trends you are witnessing among Indian travellers?

There are quite a few but I will speak about young couples that we have noticed. I would say the majority of Indian travellers look at Abu Dhabi as a family destination as well are the huge trend coming from India. And also the destination weddings.

Briefly tell us about your performance in 2019?

In 2019, we had 450 thousand Indian visitors which was an 8 per cent increase year on year with a length of stay for 3 nights.

What are your latest offerings for Leisure and Business travellers?

For leisure we have Clymb Abu Dhabi which has an indoor climbing wall and largest indoor sky diving tunnel as well. We have the Jebel Hafit Desert Resort where people can do camping next to UNESCO world heritage site. We have Al Jubail Mangroves Walk amongst others.

For business, most of the hotels have some sort of MICE infrastructure available. The W Hotel on Yas is looked at as more of a leisure hotel but it also has conferences facilities, the upcoming Hilton hotel the Fairmont and Marina as well have the same facilities. Any hotel that you see come out will always have some sort of conference facilities from the MICE perspective, but we have an 18000 capacity arena that is set to open next month and will be called the Etihad Arena and it is also a part of the Yas development.

What initiatives are implemented by the Abu Dhabi government for the well-informed travellers?

We look at is personas and behaviors while developing the destination. We have family and entertainment, culture secrets, adventure travellers and eco-tourism destinations for travellers.

The way we are developing the destination is based on districts. We have Yas Island which is family and entertainment district. Someone with their kids can come and stay on Yas Island and do not need to commute and go around the city as it covers all that is there for their children and themselves for entertainment. If you look at Warner Brothers World Abu Dhabi, Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld, Clymb and Yas Mall, they are all within 1 to 2 square kilometres to each other. So, that district makes it easier for family travellers to get entertainment and do not have to worry about roaming around city and getting stuck in traffic

The Culture district is the same; again, we are looking to create a district catering to the needs of the cultural travellers so that we have museums that are in close proximity to each other. Once the Guggenheim and the Zayed National Museum are done, it’s going to be the only place in the world where three world renowned IP recognised museums are in single square kilometre. Then we also have the Abrahamic House which is going to be a singular building for people of three different faiths to come and pray, all within the Cultural District. So, if you are interested in culture you don’t have to find and book an Uber and try to move around the city, we are trying to give you everything you are looking for in a singular setting, based on the district

From an Eco-touristic point of view the government is doing a lot when it comes to the sustainability of the destination and the environmental friendly approach that we have is to make sure that we are not developing anything that detrimental to the natural eco system whether it is wildlife, flora or fauna. There are a lot of protective programmes to make sure that, what we do have is protected and that we are not valuing visitors, dollars over the safety of the endangered species for example. And we are still building the itineraries for travellers to actually enjoy this historic landscape. One of the things that I enjoy is Mangrove Kayaking, that’s a very peaceful experience that really connects one with nature. And Mangroves are the lungs of Abu Dhabi so it’s really nice to be immersed in that kind of experience.

Adventure takes on two different roles, the first is the natural world, outside, and second is indoor, adrenaline pumping. Depending on the interest of a person, we have different things to cater for adventure. For example, taking them to desert where they can experience dune bashing, sand boarding and so many different things. Also, there is Clymb Abu Dhabi, which I mentioned earlier, where I have seen someone climb that wall incredibly fast, she is world champion.

What are your expectations for Expo 2020? Please tell us in detail about the attraction points and experiences targeted for the audience?

Expo as an experience will add to the landscape that Abu Dhabi has to offer. What we are hoping is we will see increase visitation in Abu Dhabi itself but also attractions that we have in Abu Dhabi. If someone is coming for a week, they are not going to spend every single day at the Expo, they will want to experience something different as well. We have some iconic landmarks that they can add to their visit such as the Lourve, Abu Dhabi. If they are more into entertainment, they can visit the places I mentioned before. So, we do anticipate a lot of spill over of Expo visitors to Abu Dhabi, but we also expect a lot of visitors into Abu Dhabi that would want to experience the Expo. So, it’s a two-way conversation with the Expo for us.

What is your outlook for India outbound market in next 5 years?

We have a very aggressive approach when it comes to the expectations of our leadership and this year, for example, we are looking at double digit growth for the Indian market. So, that is a trend that we keep up. In 5 years, if we do a good job hopefully, we will be heading to the 100,000 Indian visitors.