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Abu Dhabi’s tourism industry is heading to Kuwait later this month for a major promotion at The Avenues Mall when the emirate is looking to convince expatriates and Kuwaitis of just how much there is to see and do in the destination.
The promotion will run from October 23-25 and feature representatives of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), Ferrari World Abu Dhabi – the world’s largest indoor theme park with its fastest roller coaster – the award-winning Yas Waterworld water park, Rotana Hotels & Resorts and Etihad Airways, which currently flies four times daily, non-stop from Kuwait to Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Young Yola dancing champions from the emirate will be joined by Kuwaiti counterparts to bring a fun, festive atmosphere to the promotion.
“This is a very timely initiative,” said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director, Promotions & Overseas Offices, TCA Abu Dhabi. “It comes as the number of Kuwaitis staying in the emirate’s hotels and resorts is on an upward trajectory and as our major events calendar for the year-end has considerable cross-age and cultural appeal.”
Visitors to the Abu Dhabi promotion will be able to get the latest news on this month’s and November’s Arabian premiere Yas Island of the award-winning Broadway musical Beauty & The Beast and next month’s F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the season’s finale with double the points and double the action and after-race Yasalam concerts featuring British rock icons The Who, the USA’s singer-songwriter and producer Pharrell Willaims and international DJ phenomenon Armin Van Buuren.
Also on the promotion agenda will be Abu Dhabi’s plans for December’s National Day, including the Arabian debut of Nitro Circus Live, the biggest action sports show on the planet, and the action-packed year-end hosting of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet. From December 12 until January 3rd when the fleet is in the UAE capital, the emirate will host mega celebrations in a purpose-built destination village on Abu Dhabi Corniche including the Arabian debut of BBC Worldwide’s highly acclaimed Blue Planet in Concert which will open the race stopover.
Having previously played to sell-out audiences in the USA, Europe, the Far East and Australia, Blue Planet in Concert combines spectacular, specially cut high definition footage from the award winning TV series – The Blue Planet – with the emotional and evocative musical score performed by a live orchestra.
Two 90-minute evening performances of Blue Planet in Concert will be shown on December 12 and 13 on a 10-metre wide screen placed on a purpose-built, floating stage in the waters off Abu Dhabi’s stunning Corniche and will be accompanied by the 78-piece National Symphony Orchestra Abu Dhabi led by celebrity guest conductor George Fenton.
The VOR Destination Village, which is bigger than five football pitches, will be packed with edutainment and entertainment highlighting Abu Dhabi’s union with the sea and its maritime heritage. There’ll be dhow racing, pearl diving showcases, traditional sea shanty performances, ocean conservation exhibitions and activities such as turtle conservation talks.
“The stopover is a tremendous international showcase which propels our winter watersports credentials and marine heritage to the fore among the global sailing community,” said Al Nuaimi. “This is when four centuries of maritime heritage will connect with today’s greatest ocean adventure in the world’s most exciting destination.”
Up to 200,000 people are expected to visit Abu Dhabi’s VOR Destination Village, which will be open to the public from December 12 until January 3, when the race fleet departs for its next endurance sailing leg to Sanya, China.
The delegation to Kuwait will also highlight upcoming performances in the relaunched Abu Dhabi Classics annual concert series, which runs until May next year and brings some of the world’s best classical performers and orchestras from East and West to a host of venues throughout Abu Dhabi including the cultural hub of Saadiyat Island and the historic Al Jahili Fort in the emirate’s heritage heartland of Al Ain.
A major series’ highlight will be the world premiere of a concert by award-winning Spanish composer Jordi Savall to be held in Abu Dhabi’s prestigious Emirates Palace Auditorium this November.
Savall’s one-night only performance, specially penned for Abu Dhabi: ‘Ibn Battuta: The voyager of Islam’ on November 20 will also feature Hesperion XXI, an ensemble of 16 musicians playing traditional Arabic instruments. Together they will take the audience on a journey through music following the travels of legendary 14th century Arab traveller Ibn Battuta.
Abu Abd Ibn Battuta was an explorer, voyager and writer and one of the most important Muslim travellers of the Middle Ages who journeyed around 120,000 kms in 29 years throughout the Middle East, the Maghreb, Africa, Europe and the Far East. His travels were recorded in the voyage report ‘Rihla’ which is the contextual base for Jordi Savall’s new work.
As a driving force of the current revaluation of historic music, Savall will guide the audience through time and space, performing music Ibn Battuta heard during his visits to royal courts, palaces, public spaces or small villages.
Joining Savall on stage will be Moroccan Driss El Maloumi, widely considered one of the best Oud players of his generation and one of the Arab world’s leading artists. He has been universally praised for the quality, purity and delicacy of his playing and music and is known for mixing traditional Moroccan Sufi music with modern jazz and baroque music.
The music will be complemented by readings from Arabic speaking Spanish poet Manuel Forcano from the traveller’s journal, allowing music and words to intertwine and recreate Ibn Battuta’s adventures through the Middle East, Turkey, Iraq and Iran from 1314 to 1336.
In the first eight months of this year, 21,129 Kuwaitis checked into Abu Dhabi’s 156 hotels and hotel apartments – a 42% rise on the same period last year. They delivered 54,721 guest nights – a rise of 44% year-on-year and stayed, on average just short of three nights.
“While we are obviously encouraged by this upward momentum, we believe Kuwait holds out even more potential for us and would like to convince those Kuwaitis who do come to Abu Dhabi to stay longer and take in the many and varied places, attractions and events the emirate has to offer,” said Al Nuaimi.
Kuwaitis can keep up-to-date with all the events in Abu Dhabi simply by logging on to www.abudhabievents.ae
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