- UAE will witness highest growth with total Nordic tourism estimated to reach US$718 million by 2024, followed by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain
- 383,800 Nordic citizens will travel to the GCC in 2024, an increase of 23% when compared with figures from 2018
Nordic tourists travelling to the GCC from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, are expected to generate an estimated US$810 million in travel and tourism revenue by 2024, according to data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2020, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 19-22 April 2020.
The latest Colliers International research, commissioned by Reed Travel Exhibitions, the organiser of Arabian Travel Market, predicts the UAE will witness the highest growth, with total tourism spend by Nordic visitors projected to reach US$718 million by 2024, an increase of 36% when compared with figures from 2018 and tourism spend per trip to reach US$2,088.
Building on this, Saudi Arabia is expected to witness the second largest increase followed by Bahrain, with total Nordic tourism spend estimated to reach US$86,670,000 and US$53,000,000 respectively, by 2024.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “The Nordic countries’ outbound tourism market has experienced incremental growth over the last five years, with 50.5 million overseas visits made by residents during 2018 alone.
“And, with Nordic citizens enjoying one of the highest average incomes in the world and being amongst the world’s highest spenders while travelling abroad, the GCC is looking to capitalise on their spending power over the next five years.
“Adding to this, ATM is witnessing this growth first-hand with the number of delegates, exhibitors and attendees interested in doing business with these countries increasing by 35% between 2018 and 2019.”
Looking at Nordic outbound tourism figures, arrivals from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland to the GCC will increase 23% over the period 2018 to 2024, driven by an increasing number of new and direct flight routes, relaxed visa requirements and the vast number of unique travel experiences that the region has to offer.
Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia have been popular destinations for Norwegian business tourists for many years due to their joint interests in the oil industry, while for Swedish, Icelandic, Danish and Finnish tourists, the UAE and wider GCC region offer year-round sunshine allowing them to escape the constant mid-winter temperatures of below freezing.
According to the Colliers data, approximately 383,800 Nordic citizens will travel to the GCC in 2024, with Swedish tourists leading the number of arrivals, totaling 191,900. Visitors from Denmark will follow with 76,700 arrivals, closely followed by Norway, Finland and Iceland with 62,800, 47,200 and 5,200 arrivals, respectively.
Curtis said: “The UAE will continue to be the preferred GCC destination for Nordic tourists, welcoming a projected 342,200 tourists by 2024. Saudi Arabia and Oman will follow with 17,300 and 16,500 respectively, while Bahrain well welcome 7,000 and Kuwait 800.
“Driving this demand in the UAE, Emirates currently operates direct flights to Norway, Denmark and Sweden and last year introduced a direct flight to Iceland, following the closure of low-cost Icelandic carrier WOW air. Meanwhile, Norwegian Air operates direct flights between Oslo and Dubai five times a week and flydubai has direct flights between Dubai and Helsinki in Finland.”
ATM, considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed almost 40,000 people to its 2019 event with representation from 150 countries. With over 100 exhibitors making their debut, ATM 2019 showcased the largest ever exhibition from Asia.
Adopting Events for Tourism Growth as the official show theme, ATM 2020 will build on the success of this year’s edition with a host of seminar sessions discussing the impact events have on tourism growth in the region while inspiring the travel and hospitality industry about the next generation of events.
-ENDS-
About Arabian Travel Market (ATM)
Arabian Travel Market is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East – introducing both inbound and outbound tourism professionals to over 2,500 of the most breathtaking destinations, attractions and brands as well as the very latest cutting-edge technologies. Attracting almost 40,000 industry professionals, with representation from 150 countries, ATM prides itself on being the hub of all travel and tourism ideas – providing a platform to discuss insights on the ever-changing industry, share innovations and unlock endless business opportunities over the four days. New to ATM 2020 will be Travel Forward, a high-end travel and hospitality innovation event, dedicated conference summits and ATM buyer forums for key source markets India, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China as well as the inaugural Responsible Tourism Awards.
To find out more, please visit: www.arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com.
ATM 2020 will take place from Sunday 19th April – Wednesday 22nd April 2020 #IdeasArriveHere
About Arabian Travel Week
Arabian Travel Week is a festival of events taking place within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2020 including ILTM Arabia, the inaugural Responsible Tourism Awards and Travel Forward – a new travel tech and hospitality innovation event launching this year – as well as ATM Buyer Forums and ATM Speed Networking Events for key source markets India, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector – under one roof over the course of one week – Arabian Travel Week will be returning to Dubai World Trade Centre from Sunday 19th April – Thursday 23rd April 2020.
For more information, visit: arabiantravelweek.com
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face to face through data and digital tools at over 500 events a year, in more than 30 countries, attracting more than seven million participants.
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether it is global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have over 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.
About World Travel Market
World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises four leading B2B events across four continents, generating more than $7 billion of industry deals. In addition to ATM, the events are:
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. About 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating about £3.4 billion in travel industry contracts. http://london.wtm.com/.
Event was held Monday 4 – Wednesday 6 November 2019 in London #IdeasArriveHere
WTM Latin America attracts about 9,000 senior executives and generates about US$374 million of new business. Taking place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this show attracts a global audience to meet and shape the direction of the travel industry. More than 8,000 unique visitors attend the event to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry news.http://latinamerica.wtm.com/.
Next event: Tuesday 31 March to Thursday 2 April 2020 – Sao Paulo.
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. Nearly 5,000 travel industry professionals attend Africa’s leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors. http://africa.wtm.com/.
Next event: Monday 6 to Wednesday 8 April 2020 – Cape Town.