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Abu Dhabi’s tourism industry is heading to the USA’s mainline business tourism exhibition IMEX America - with a portfolio of compelling incentives aimed at wooing major association meetings to its shores.
Joining Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau, a division of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) at the prestigious three-day trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada between October 14 and 16, will be representatives from the UAE’s national airline Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) and several five-star hotels.
The trade party will aim to strengthen Abu Dhabi’s presence in the global meetings and events sector, and build on the success of being named the Middle East’s Leading Meetings & Convention Destination at the World Travel Awards earlier this year.
This will be the third time Abu Dhabi has been represented at IMEX, which is the world’s most prominent exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events, following its debut in the same city in 2012 and in Frankfurt, Germany last year.
TCA Abu Dhabi forecasts that the emirate’s Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) segment will double in value by 2020 to reach almost $1.4bn, with the sector earmarked for a significant role in the emirate’s overall economic expansion aligned to Abu Dhabi Government’s 2030 Economic Vision.
Among numerous major conventions to have committed to Abu Dhabi recently, the city has secured the 3rd and 5th Middle East and Africa Osteoporosis Meetings of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), with the events scheduled for December 2015 and December 2019. Each conference will attract 1,500 scientists, physicians and medical societies to the city aimed at promoting worldwide awareness and prevention of the disease.
The US market is seen as a key target area due to the prominence of associations and societies based in the country, with many holding their annual meetings, conventions or conferences internationally.
Mubarak Al Shamisi, Director, Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau, said: “Abu Dhabi is an international oil & gas hub so it understands business and business people and is well versed in catering to their needs.
Abu Dhabi is a world class venue which excels as a location for global events and meetings having excellent East-
West air links. Our national airline, accessible location between East and West, first class hotels with highly competitive room rates and rich diversity of cultures and attractions combine to make the emirate a very appealing place to do business and host global events.
“We have a very reasonable average room rate of US $155 and represent fantastic value for money when you consider our costs against the very high standard of facilities and service offered.
“We have an Advantage Abu Dhabi incentive which offers a range of support mechanism. We can pull together a ‘Host City Committee’ which works with all stakeholders to ensure the event is delivered as smoothly as possible and that the delegates and attendees are offered incentives across the whole offering.”
Economic ties have recently been strengthened between the US and the emirate with Etihad Airways operating non-stop daily flights from Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi from June, making it the fourth US city, along with New York, Chicago and Washington DC, flying into Abu Dhabi International Airport.
This network will expand when Etihad begins flights from Dallas/Fort Worth direct to Abu Dhabi three times a week from December.
Currently there are over 150 hotels across the emirate ranging from one-star lodgings to five-star luxury hotels offering almost 28,000 rooms.
The iconic Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi’s flagship hotel, has created an enviable niche in luxury hospitality, welcoming world leaders, celebrities, global business travellers and leisure guests while recording a record year in 2013 for rooms and total revenues.
The hotel also boasts a 1,100 capacity auditorium providing a glamorous location for international events, conferences and exhibitions.
Linda Steeger, Director of Sales and Marketing, said: “The US is still an up growing market for Abu Dhabi and for our hotel, and we are noticing an increased demand from the States this year. IMEX is perfect to interact with the most relevant meeting planners and we are joining our forces to position the destination, and Emirates Palace, as the perfect alternative for incentives, groups and events.
Tailor-made programmes and attractive conditions are being offered to stimulate the demand from this market.”
Located at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre - the Arabian Gulf’s largest convention centre the four-star Aloft Abu Dhabi will position itself as a key business venue by capitalising on its proximity to the UAE capital and the international airport. Offering three in-house meeting rooms, the hotel is complemented by ADNEC’s 12 halls, two conference halls and 20 meeting rooms.
Michel Nader, General Manager at Aloft Abu Dhabi, said: “We aim to be the go-to hotel for business tourism in Abu Dhabi. At IMEX America, we want to showcase our premises as the perfect business hotel in the capital for the American business traveller looking for something unique, fresh and fun.
We will aim to establish and grow relationships with private companies and the tourism industry within the US and Mexico, Canada and South America. The time is right to strengthen relationships with the US market.”
ADNEC announced in September that it has recorded a significant increase in the number of exhibitions it has held this year, compared to last year. The region’s leading exhibition and conference venue hosted 28 exhibitions in the six months to the end of June 2014, up 56 per cent from 18 exhibitions last year.
H.E Ali Saeed Bin Harmal Al Dhaheri, Managing Director of ADNEC, said: “This continued growth in our operational performance, and the growth of the wider business tourism industry in Abu Dhabi, underscores the important contribution this sector makes to the economic development of the emirate.
“By reinforcing our internal stakeholder relationships, building new external partnerships, continuously improving our value proposition and investing in our people, we will continue to forge ahead with our strategic objective of increasing our economic impact across several industries in Abu Dhabi. We are confident that 2014 will witness further growth for our business.”
The 390 room InterContinental Abu Dhabi, which has seen 13 per cent year-on-year growth in occupancy, hopes to increase and drive more corporate business from the US to its prime beach location, just minutes from the city centre.
Reema Baroudi, Director of PR and Communications, said: “The US market is huge with so much potential such as in the banking, defence and consultancy sectors. We expect to increase existing business and build on our success of hosting conferences and events.”
Other hotels from Abu Dhabi attending IMEX in Las Vegas include the five-star The Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi Grand Canal and Jumeirah at Etihad Towers.
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