(9 August 2017)
Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) made a big impression in the United States in July, as it kicked off a new major international promotional push, the latest initiative in its ongoing global destination campaign.
The campaign, entitled Your Extraordinary Story, promotes Abu Dhabi as a location with a wealth of stories to share, where anyone who experiences the emirate gets to take away with them lifelong memories of unique experiences.
TCA Abu Dhabi’s ongoing partnership with Manchester City is enhancing this campaign, further boosting the destination’s profile by tapping into the global appeal of football and the intrinsic passion that fans have for sharing stories and experiences. The springboard was the team’s recent pre-season tour to the United States.
Manchester City’s pre-season schedule saw the team play against local rivals Manchester United, UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid and Premier League runners-up Tottenham Hotspur in Houston, Los Angeles and Nashville.
And, as tour sponsors, TCA Abu Dhabi used the three high-profile matches, for which the team wore specially-branded Visit Abu Dhabi shirts, to launch the season-long Extraordinary City Story campaign, which asks fans to share their own favourite memories and stories about being Manchester City fans, with the chance of winning an ‘extraordinary’, all-expenses paid trip to the UAE capital as a grand prize.
To kick-start the competition, TCA Abu Dhabi made sure US fans had some new ‘extraordinary stories’ to take away with them with some exclusive fan-focused events before the games in each city.
In Houston, TCA Abu Dhabi organised an exclusive ‘Morning with Paul Dickov’ event for fans - where the former Man City striker shared his own experiences in an intimate Q&A session - before delighting the crowd with a surprise appearance by first XI stars Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and John Stones, as well as up-and-coming talent such as Brahim Diaz and Daniel Grimshaw.