European Visitors To GCC To Increase 17% By 2020

Arrivals from Europe to the GCC will increase 17% over the period 2018 to 2020, driven by extra flights, routes, competitive fares, and the rising number of mid-market hotels throughout the region, according to the latest data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2018, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22-25.

According to Arabian Travel Market’s research partner, Colliers International, 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.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia continue to be the preferred GCC destinations for European visitors, together they are on track to welcome 81% of the projected business and leisure travellers. The UAE is expected to receive 14.5 million, Saudi Arabia 5.4 million, Oman 2.21 million, Bahrain 1.72 million and Kuwait 738,000, by 2020.

Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, ATM, said: “Historically, Europe and the GCC have enjoyed excellent travel and tourism links. Building on this, over the next three years, EU arrivals to the GCC will increase and we will see this in both the leisure and business segments.

“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.”