Abu Dhabi’s tourism industry looks set for a resurgence of interest from European markets after its most successful showing at ITB Berlin - one of the world’s leading travel fairs.

Abu Dhabi mounted its largest ever ITB pavilion with 53 companies from the emirate demonstrating huge expansion of the destination’s tourism proposition. Abu Dhabi’s product line up at the pavilion was 10% bigger than last year and comprised hotels, transport providers and tour operators.

"The results justified the investment," said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, International Promotions Manager, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), which spearheaded the pavilion. "We are convinced we have made significant headway in achieving our 2010 target of 1.65 million hotel guests by the end of this year." At the show Lufthansa German Airlines, which currently operates a daily Frankfurt-Abu Dhabi service, said it’s investigating the feasibility of stepping up its frequency to twice-daily while Swiss International Airlines says it’s considering launching a service from Zurich to the UAE capital.

And the German Travel Association, which includes the Who’s Who of the country’s travel & tourism industry, said it’s considering Abu Dhabi as the host destination for its annual general meeting in 2012. Meanwhile, the world’s largest tour operator, TUI, expressed interest in bespoke tours to Abu Dhabi and Al Ain for members of its elite Porsche Travel Club, which would include a track day at Yas Marina Circuit.

The Al Ain Wildlife Park & Resort, which used ITB for its international trade fair debut, reported strong interest from tour operators.

"We generated a lot of positive response for our planned desert safari wildlife park, and believe the development will open up increased MICE activity," said Nabil Zakhour, Advisor PR and Media Communication, Al Ain Wildlife Park ’&’ Resort. "Operators are really interested in alternative and unusual venues for conferences, meetings and incentives and we’ve also had inquiries from small boutique travel groups now wanting to include the ’Oasis City’ of Al Ain on itineraries for the Middle East." Confirming the German market is back online, Sinan Bozkurt, Assistant Director of Sales for the Shangri-la Qaryat Al Beri, said that ITB was filled with good appointments with existing clients: "Thanks to the pro-activity of ADTA in raising the destination’s profile and key events such as the F1 and FIFA World Cup UAE, we are seeing increased bookings from our established contacts as awareness of the destination continues to grow." Danat Hotels focussed heavily on its newly-opened desert and beach resort of Tilal Liwa with targeted packages of five night stays created specifically for the German, Swiss and Austrian markets.
 

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