Five months ahead of the first, daily, non-stop air links between Abu Dhabi and Spain, the emirate’s business tourism players going all out to raise awareness of their products and services at next week’s EIBTM global meetings and events exhibition in Barcelona.

Twenty-six exhibitors have signed up for this year’s Abu Dhabi EIBTM pavilion, led by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) meaning its 2014 showing will feature more players and products than ever.

“There’s no doubt that the planned launch, next March, of daily air links between Abu Dhabi and Madrid has influenced the sign up rate,” explained Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director, Promotions & Overseas Offices, TCA Abu Dhabi.

“The service will bring a whole new market well within our reach and it’s time to ensure we have the right contacts in place to maximise this opportunity.”

Abu Dhabi’s EIBTM line-up includes Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, destination management companies, hotels, Yas Island, major attractions, event producers and niche products, including sea plane air tours.

“The breadth of product this year is highly significant as it is a complete reflection of just how much the destination is evolving in terms of choice for meetings and events planners,” added Al Nuaimi.

Abu Dhabi’s business events industry, spurred on by last year’s creation of the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau - a dedicated TCA Abu Dhabi division -  is on the up-and-up according to stakeholders.

One of the country’s largest DMC’s The Vision Management has 2014 down as “satisfactory” having handled events with excess of 700 participants.

“Our biggest incentive to Abu Dhabi in 2014 had 300 participants,” explained Ali Abu Monassar, Chairman. “Italy is our main source market and we will continue to support this with familiarisation trips and sales activity but we are also employing a representative in Spain as we look forward to increased presence from that country due to the new Etihad route.”

This year is also proving successful for Abu Dhabi’s destination and leisure hub of Yas Island. “We saw strong attendance in business tourism in 2013, along with an estimated 4 million overall visitors for the year, and the trend is continuing in 2014,” said Clive Dwyer, Director, Destination Management.

Dwyer says the island’s competitive edge is the ability of all its assets to collaborate on ensuring seamless event delivery.

“In April, a 16,000-strong delegation was hosted on Yas Island for the nuSkin corporate retreat, and this past month, almost 90 Chinese travel agents and tour operators held a day-long tour on Yas Island, exploring our business and leisure facilities. The full day tour was part of a major summit to build on the current steep growth in tourists and business travellers from China.”

Dwyer says new Etihad Airways’ routes are spurring greater product creativity.

“We are working with Etihad Airways and the Abu Dhabi Government to create event assistance packages for event organisers in Madrid and Edinburgh,” he explained.

Etihad Airways is to commence non-stop, daily services from the Scottish capital next June.

Another exhibitor the five-star InterContinental Abu Dhabi says business tourism contributed 4.6% to its 2013 results with more forecast this year.

“We look at 13% growth year-on-year in volume,” said  Fady Atwan, Director of Sales & Marketing.

The largely leisure resorts of Saadiyat Island are also looking to make their mark – particularly for the MICE sector with bespoke product.

“As Europe is our prime target market, we have developed tailor-made services for this clientele, with a special focus on outdoor and educational activities that will allow them to discover the wide range of entertainment Abu Dhabi has to offer,” said Stuart Deeson, General Manager of the beachfront Park Hyatt Resort & Villas, Saadiyat Island.

“This year, we’ve come up with a special programme for incentive groups, featuring a series of team building activities our hotel is able to organise in house. Activities range from visits to the local fish market with our team of talented chefs to a Wildlife Talk & Scavenger Hunt organised by our marine biologist.”

Group business is high on the 2015 agenda for showpiece The Ritz-Carlton Grand Canal, Abu Dhabi.

“With one of the largest ballrooms in Abu Dhabi, stunning outdoor venues and capacity to accommodate large parties of over 1,000 guests in the hotel, The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi appeals to many event planners,” explained Dilip Mukundan, Director of Sales & Marketing.

“Our existing products tailored for the European market have been performing well and we have been getting positive feedback from our partners there. The strategy for the coming months is to capitalise on the existing success and, based on the products’ performance and clients’ feedback, re-evaluate our strategy early next year.

“The emirate will benefit from increased destination awareness in Europe following the launch of new airline routes and an array of new tourist attractions that are now available. With that in mind, we definitely want to tap into this important market by offering packages and products that appeal to the European traveller.”

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