|
Abu Dhabi’s tourism industry has received a huge vote of confidence from an 11-strong Japanese travel agents delegation which visited the UAE capital as part of Etihad Airways’ campaign to promote the destination and its recently-launched flights to Abu Dhabi from Nagoya, Japan’s third largest city and the capital Tokyo. The award-winning UAE national carrier to Abu Dhabi five times a week from both Japanese cities.
After touring the city and taking in some of its most popular sights, delegation members described Abu Dhabi as an “ideal” destination for their market.
Toured the capital; yesterday visiting Sheikh Zayed Grand mosque, one of the world’s largest and most impressive landmarks, before visiting the Culture and Heritage Village and stopping by the vegetable and fruit market. The delegation concluded the day with a visit of the various tourist and entertainment facilities on Yas Island, including the iconic Yas Hotel – the only one in the world straddling a Formula 1™ race track.
“This is a clean, very well planned and beautifully landscaped city,” said Rina Sakai, from the Japanese Tourism Board World Vacation, which promotes Abu Dhabi in Japan. “The trip has been extremely useful as I am developing a brochure about the emirate to promote it across Japan.
“This is our first visit to Abu Dhabi and it is ideal for Japanese tourists because it presents a blend of historic sites alongside entertainment, culture and heritage attractions. Also, the city has good hotels and landmarks such as the Sheikh Zayed Grand mosque." "This was my first visit to a mosque and I have never seen a building with such beautiful designs and rich decorations. It is very impressive and I expect it to draw a large number of Japanese tourists.”
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – which ranked among Abu Dhabi’s top five attractions in a recent Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) international visitor survey, was also a highlight of Yamada Toshihiro’s stay. Yamada, from Nagoya’s Overseas Travel Agency, said his mosque visitor was memorable.
“It is a very big structure and the fact that female visitors wear abaya inside the mosque is a unique experience that I am sure our Japanese tourists will enjoy since they do not normally get the chance to wear it during their visit here,” he pointed out.
“This is Etihad Airways’ first inbound familiarization trip for Japanese tour agents and we plan to organise another later this year, from Tokyo. There is increased Japanese demand for Abu Dhabi as a tourist destination,” explained Shinya Torii, Etihad Airways’ Nagoya-based Sales Executive.
Japan is an emerging market for Abu Dhabi with some 2,228 Japanese nationals staying in the emirates hotels in the first quarter of this year – a one per cent increase on the same period in 2009.
“Our research shows that Abu Dhabi has the right product for Japanese tourists who want a destination where they can engage with the local culture and heritage – and of course, which benefit from superb golf courses,” said Ahmed Hussein, Deputy Director General, ADTA. “Working closely with Etihad we intend to nurture this high potential segment with awareness familiarization trips for both the trade and Japanese media. We are also close to finalising a Japanese version of our consumer website – visitabudhabi.ae – to better reach the market.”
The number of Japanese visitors to visitabudhabi.ae has risen by 26% in the first four months of this year.
|
New
Review
Abu Dhabi International Airport - 41°F
