NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Tourism is targeting the rich Arabs for tourist traffic to India.
The ministry, with a delegation from India, recently conducted road shows in the cities of Saudi Arabia. According to travel statistics, 4.5 million Saudis, representing nearly a quarter of the population, travelled abroad and spent about $33 billion last year.
India is fast emerging as a preferred destination for the Saudi tourists.
Foreign tourist arrivals into India have witnessed a steady increase over the years, touching 6.29 million in 2011, an increase of 8.9 per cent over 2009.
During the year 2010, there has been an increase of nearly 38 per cent in the inbound tourism from Saudi Arabia with around 22,000 tourists.
One of the highlights for the Arabs is the potentials in wellness tourism, where cost of medical services is 30 per cent lesser than other countries.
Other luxury highlights included Palace on Wheels, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, The Deccan Odyssey and the Golden Chariot etc. in addition to the Palace Hotels, Luxury Spas etc.