Tag: inbound tourism

Saudi expects to enhance inbound tourism with event visas

The Saudi cabinet has recently announced a new visa category to woo international tourists to the country. Introduction of the special ‘event’ visas is part of plans by the Kingdom to become a major global entertainment destination. Foreign tourists can now choose from the growing number of sporting, entertainment and business attractions available in the country. As per the circular issued by the cabinet, announcing the new visa category, Embassies and consulates will be able to issue the visas within 24 hours of receiving a request. Under the visa upgrade, the Kingdom’s General Investment Authority, General Sports Authority and General Entertainment ... Read more

Indonesia welcomed 15.8m foreign tourists, despite natural disasters

Indonesia witnesses a total of 15.81 million foreign tourist footfalls during the year 2018, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS). Though it could not achieve the government’s target of attracting 17 million tourists, the figure depicts a 12.58 per cent growth in tourist arrivals from 2017. Thara and Goutham in Yogyakarta, Indonesia “We saw a significant increase in December, particularly during the Christmas and New Year’s Eve holiday, when the number of visitors jumped to 1.41 million, or up by 21.43 per cent month-to-month,” said BPS head Suharyanto  at the BPS headquarter in Jakarta. Suharyanto pointed out Indonesian tourism took a ... Read more

New York witnesses record number of tourists in 2018

Year 2018 witnessed around 65.2 million tourist arrivals in New York. It was acknowledged by the New York Tourism Board, stating that British people topped the list of foreign visitors. According to statistics, around 51.6 million domestic and 13.5 million foreign tourists visited the city last year, almost 3 per cent more than that of overseas visitors in 2017. With 1.24 million, Briton topped the list, having China in the second place (1.1 million).  Canada (1 million), Brazil (920,000) and France (807,000) followed the list. According to the annual Global Destination Cities list of MasterCard published in September, New York ... Read more

Israel to set new record in inbound tourism

Israeli tourism sector has been showing a growing trend during the year 2018. Nearly 4 million visitors have visited the historical country, since the beginning of the year. Around 389,000 tourists visited Israel in November alone, as per reports. There has been persistent growth in tourism over the past two years and the authorities are expecting record number of tourists this year, if the trend continues. It is expected to have around four million visitors by the end of the year. The country has hosted around 3.8 million tourists during the period January – November 2018, which is 14 per ... Read more

Dubai expects steady growth in Indian tourists footfall

Dubai Tourism expects a steady growth of 13 to 15 per cent in Indian tourist visits in the state. As per reports, India remained the top source market for Dubai during the year 2017 and it is expected to be a crucial contributor to their targeted 20 million international visitations by 2020. “The priority is to get the messaging tailor-made for each market in India to attract every segment of travellers to Dubai,” said Khalid Al Awar, Manager – India & Pakistan (International Operations), Dubai Tourism. He was interacting with the media in an informal chat on the side-lines of ... Read more

Singapore Tourism records drop in tourist spending in Q2

Despite some 4.6 million visitor arrivals, Singapore tourism sector recorded a drop in overall spending in the second quarter of the year by 1.7 per cent to USD 6.6 billion, compared with the same period last year. It was revealed by the quarterly report by Singapore Tourism Board (STB) The dip in tourism spending was attributed to lower spending in areas like shopping, 22 per cent less and food and beverage, 15 per cent less, and in sightseeing, entertainment and gaming, 2 per cent less. However, tourism spending grew for accommodation (6 per cent) and a miscellaneous category that includes ... Read more

Macau and Hong Kong have the highest international tourist spending: WTTC Report

The special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong experience the highest international visitor spending, according to highlights of a report by the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) annual City Travel & Tourism Impact Report on Monday. The report noted that Macau has the highest foreign tourists spending making up 97.3 per cent of tourism gross domestic product (GDP) at USD 35.6 billion. Tourists from the China mainland are also considered as foreign tourists in this report. In 2017, a total USD 14.3 billion of tourism GDP was generated in Macau, placing it among the top 20 in terms ... Read more

Falling rupee is saving inbound tourism in India

In the second week of September Union Minister K J Alphons said that rupee depreciation was good for the country’s tourism sector, and, his words seem to be true, looking at the growth of inbound tourism. The strengthening dollar and Euro has made India an attractive destination for foreign tourists. Though the outbound tourism has taken a hit, the tourism industry has high hopes regarding the inbound tourists. Alphons has said earlier last month that the central government is taking all measures to double the tourist inflow in India in next three years. Apart from foreign travellers, there’s a remarkable rise in ... Read more

Australia becomes favorite tourism destination for Indians

Photo Courtesy: thefabulousscript.com As per the recent reports from the Australian tourism authorities, the country has received around 277,100 Indian tourists during the period from June 2017 to May 2018. This is 19 per cent more than that of the previous year. India has become the eighth largest inbound market for Australia, after China, New Zealand, the US, Britain, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Average spending by Indian tourists increased by 14 per cent between April 2017 and March 2018, with visitors spending AUD 1.53 billion (around Rs 7,650 crore) in Australia. Last year it was AUD 1.33 billion. In terms ... Read more

Ethiopia eyes enhanced tourist inflow to the country

Ethiopia is striving to boost the capacity of its hospitality industry and welcome more foreign tourist, said an official from the tourism ministry. “My ministry has been working with public and private stakeholders to boost the country’s hospitality industry capacity and diversify the nationality of foreign tourists visiting the African country,” said Gezahegn Abate, Public and International Relations Director of the Ethiopia Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MoCIT). Around 934,000 tourists visited the country during the fiscal year 2018, that ended on July 7, with total earnings of USD 3.5 billion. As per the minister, their efforts to attract more ... Read more

India tops Dubai’s inbound tourism chart

India retained its first position as the favoured tourist market for Duabi Tourism, with more than a million Indians visiting the city of gold during the first half of 2018, which is three per cent more than that of last year. As per statistics from Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), Saudi Arabia and the UK are in second and third places respectively, while China in the fourth place. Russia improved their position to be in the first 10, with a soaring 74 per cent increase than 2017, delivering 405,000 visitors to the country. The visa-on-arrival facility ... Read more