Abu Dhabi’s tourism industry is set to host its busiest ever destination familiarisation programme this month with 462 travel influencers ­ tour operators, meetings planners and media ­ arriving in the emirate from nine countries throughout the Americas, Sub-continent, Europe, Middle East and Russia.

“None of the hosted delegations have been to Abu Dhabi before and, together with our [stakeholders, we are working to deliver exciting, inspiring and convincing itineraries through which we hope to persuade these important intermediaries to recommend our destination to their respective clients and audiences,” said Mubarak Al Nuami, Director, Promotions & Overseas Offices, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi).

“The emirate now has much more vibrant product to showcase and a range of accommodation options to suit various budgets. We can now fulfil the most exacting requirements of a variety of sectors, from luxury to family, from meetings to major conventions, and we want the trade to see for themselves how far the destination has progressed.”

The largest of the groups come from Russia and Italy. The Russian contingent arrives September 11 and consists of 120 travel agents from the country’s outbound leisure travel sector. On September 16, some 130 Italian leisure tour operators will arrive for their itinerary.

“The operators will see all regions of the emirate and take in the desert, islands, beaches, cultural sights as well as our headline attractions,” said Al Nuaimi. “They will also be briefed on our extensive event calendar as we look to increase visitor numbers as well as their average length of stay.

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