Dubai: Telecom operator du expects between 20 and 22 per cent year-on-year growth in roaming revenues next year with the signing of a rewards programme deal with Amsterdam-based Travelling Connect.

Through this partnership, all travellers to the UAE stand to earn airline miles or hotel points with over 30 leading loyalty programmes, and earn two miles or points per minute on voice and three miles or points per 1MB data usage.

Ahmad Mokhles, executive vice-president of consumer business at du, told Gulf News at a press conference in Dubai on Monday, that roaming contributes on average around eight per cent to du’s mobile revenue. Du has almost 50 per cent of the mobile traffic coming into the UAE.

He said that research shows that inbound travellers’ data traffic is expected to double in the next five years, thereby presenting a significant business opportunity for us. The number of roamers is showing significant increases of around 16 per cent per year.

According to statistics, tourist inflow is forecast to grow at an annual growth rate of five per cent between 2014 and 2022. This year, it is expected to grow by seven per cent.

Membership to Travelling Connect service is free-of-charge and is available irrespective of members’ own carrier, country or subscription type.

Marcel Wientjen, Managing director of Travelling Connect, said that the UAE is a very important market; every year many travellers visit the UAE for pleasure, business or even just a stopover.

“We are offering our members the opportunity to earn miles by roaming on du’s advanced telecom network while they are in the UAE,” he said.

Travelling Connect has 295,000 members now.

Mokhles said that roaming data traffic has grown 100 per cent over the last year and travellers need not buy a local SIM or search for WiFi hot spots. They can continue to use their home country SIM by roaming on du’s network and get rewarded, he said.

Du covers 99 per cent of the UAE population on 3G network and around 66 per cent on 4G LTE network. In the next phase, Mokhles said that existing du customers will also benefit from the loyalty programme.