TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
Addressing a session at Arabian Travel Market 2024, Alhasan Aldabbagh, President APAC, Saudi Tourism Authority, says that they have introduced a 96-hour visa for Indians possessing the US, UK or Schengen visa, while Markus Tan, Regional Director, India, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Singapore Tourism Board, asserts that they keep updating their offerings to attract more Indians.
Dr Shehara Rizly
One of the most compelling sessions held at the Arabian Travel Market, Dubai, was ‘Strategies to entice Indian tourists’. The session, moderated by SanJeet, CEO, DDP Group, involved Alhasan Aldabbagh, President APAC, Saudi Tourism Authority and Markus Tan, Regional Director, India, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Singapore Tourism Board.
During the session, it was mentioned that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has received international recognition from UN Tourism and World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) for its remarkable achievement of welcoming over 100 million tourists in 2023, way before 2030, the time set for achieving the target. This has been possible, thanks to the Kingdom easing visa for leisure tourists since 2019 and then on a more aggressive note after the pandemic. Now, the Kingdom has renewed its target to 150 million visitors by 2030.
Speaking at the session, Aldabbagh shared that India is an important source market for the KSA, as they share a range of similarities and the convenience of travel – it’s just a four-hour flight journey between the
two countries.
He reiterated that it is one of the most lucrative markets for them after they opened for tourism. When it comes to travellers from the two destinations, they both possess somewhat similar expectations from their travels and that the middle class in India has seen a rapid growth, which brings in a new set of travellers to the Kingdom. Hence, they are more than happy to welcome Indians to explore the rich culture, history of the KSA. Aldabbagh said that diverse offerings in the KSA will amaze the travellers from India, as they enjoy great mountainous region with cooler areas, then the desert experience and the most talked about Red Sea. “India is just four hours away from Saudi Arabia and we can see the growth of the middle class is very strong. We have a diverse offering for travellers from India from mountains to desert lands to the Red Sea,” he said.
Addressing the gathering, Tan shared that India has been a lucrative market for them over many years in terms of leisure, business and even M!CE travellers. Singapore is a hub in the Asian region and is well known for its infrastructure, diverse offerings to travellers. It keeps updating its offerings. It attracts more visitors from India and across the world with all its international travel trade exhibitions as well. Aldabbagh emphasised on simplifying the process of entering the Kingdom. He said the new 96-hour visa, especially for Indians, which is a stopover visa, could be obtained if one has a valid US, UK or Schengen visa.
