The tourism industry in the Gulf still needs to work harder to attract business, according to a report "Securing the Prize for the Middle East", which was commissioned by Amadeus.
"While the region benefits from assets such as strategic geographical location and strong GDP growth, it will still need to work hard to attract new business and leisure travellers to the region," said Mona Faraj, the managing partner at Insights Management Consultancy, which is based in Abu Dhabi and produced the report.
Religious travel is another important sector of the market that needs to be tapped, she said.
Indonesia, with 200 million Muslims, and Nigeria, with 74 million Muslims, were possible markets the region could benefit from in terms of religious travellers, Ms Faraj said.
In the UAE, Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways are expanding their fleets and the number of hotels is increasing.
In Dubai, the number of hotel rooms reached 67,369 in the first half of the year, a 16 per cent increase from the 58,188 rooms last year.
In the Middle East, travel and tourism projects totalling US$4 trillion (Dh14.69tn) have been announced, the report said.
rundhun@thenational.ae
