The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) is embarking on a three-city roadshow to India, along with partners and stakeholders, to help promote the emirate and encourage even more Indian visitors to explore Abu Dhabi, a report said.

The delegation, which includes the UAE’s national carrier Etihad Airways, Jet Airways, Yas Experiences, Dusit Thani, Royal Arabian, Air Travel Enterprise, Sofitel and Rotana, will be in India from September 17–21. The roadshow will commence in New Delhi in northern India before moving on to Chennai and ending in Bengaluru in the southern part of the country, a report in WAM said.

Commenting on the announcement, Mubarak Al Nuaimi, director Promotions and Overseas Offices at DCT Abu Dhabi, said: "India is a vital tier one source market for us, which is providing more and more hotel guests for us each year. In 2017, we recorded spectacular double-digit growth from India and we are already recording further progress from the Indian market since the turn of the year."

Bejan Dinshaw, country manager for India at DCT Abu Dhabi, said: "Our persistent efforts have managed to reinforce India as one of the leading overseas source markets for Abu Dhabi. Our year-on-year performance has witnessed stupendous growth and this has been possible because of the impressive work done by our trade partners. These roadshows have helped our stakeholders to connect with the regional trade partners, further boosting tourism to the emirate."

India is currently the second-largest overseas market for Abu Dhabi after China. Last year saw more than 360,000 Indians staying in Abu Dhabi’s 162 hotels and hotel apartments, an increase of more than 11 per cent compared to 2016.

Up until July 2018, more than 227,000 Indian travellers have already visited the emirate. With the opening of Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, it is expected that there will be a dramatic surge in the growth of Indian visitors travelling to the UAE capital, the report said.