Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) will later this month launch a six-city road show around the GCC as it looks to build on rising inbound regional momentum and entice families from throughout the region to its fourth ‘Summer in Abu Dhabi’ festival which kicks off next month (June).

The authority and key stakeholders are visiting Muscat, Doha, Kuwait, Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh staging a press conference in each of the countries and travel trade promotional evenings in each destination.

The Abu Dhabi delegation includes representatives of: Al Raha Beach Resort Abu Dhabi; Cristal Hotels & Resorts; Al Ain’s new Ayla Hotel; Danat’s Jebel Dhanna Resort; the opulent Emirates Palace hotel; the five-star InterContinental Abu Dhagi; Net Tours & Travel; Nirvana Travel; the award-winning Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort; the four-star Aloft Abu Dhabi which is next door to ADNEC; the four-star Tilal Liwa Hotel and Mourouj Hotel Apartments.

The fourth ‘Summer in Abu Dhabi’ festival, will be a month-long, fun-filled extravaganza of family-centric activities, award-winning international acts and shows, premium edutainment concepts and value-driven ticket, hotel and attraction deals.

The expanded event’s summer promotions at various Abu Dhabi attractions start on June 15, before four multi-purpose halls at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) - triple the size of last year’s ADNEC offering – open to the public on June 30. Running until July 30, Summer in Abu Dhabi is organised by ADTA to engage UAE residents and increase inbound visitor numbers to the UAE capital during the traditionally quieter summer season.

GCC families are primary targets for the festival, which includes an array of discounts and offers through the emirate’s attractions and hotels all aimed at pulling in a festival audience of between 65,000 and 70,000. The deals, which come into effect June 15, include a ‘Kids Go Free’ offer at the fabulous Ferrari World Abu Dhabi – the world’s biggest indoor theme park and home to ‘Formula Rossa’, the world’s fastest rollercoaster - for kids under 1.5 metres in height. Entry will be free for those sporting a Summer in Abu Dhabi ADNEC ticket.

Deals will run throughout 12 mainline attractions, which include Big Bus Tours, Caracal Shooting Club, Al Ain Wildlife Park & Resort, the vast Al Forsan International Sports Resort, the thrilling Al Ain Raceway, speedy Yellow Boats, Falcon Aviation’s helicopter tours, Al Ain’s refurbished Hili Fun City, the iconic Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.

“The deals range from ‘Buy Two Get One Free’ packages for golf tee-times and city tours, to discounted prices and ‘Two For One’ offers at karting tracks, zoos and activity clubs,” said Faisal Al Sheikh, Events Manager, ADTA. “Visitors will find some of the best summer deals around right across Abu Dhabi’s expanded portfolio of world-class hotels, resorts and hotel apartments.”

The GCC, second only to the UK, remains a primary source market for Abu Dhabi, with the first quarter of this year seeing some 29,253 GCC nationals staying in hotels throughout the emirate – a 10 per cent rise on the same period last year. The region’s continued growth comes despite a three per cent fall in Omani guests during Q1, down from 5,371 to 5,223.

“We remain on course to achieve our target of accruing two million hotel guest nights this year. Every event in our dynamic year-round calendar meets the objective of raising the profile of the destination, which continues to mature and offers more – and at better value - than ever before with hotel rates having reduced by almost a quarter in the past year,” added Al Sheikh.

At the forefront of action in ADNEC show halls 9-11, the all-new ‘Adventure World’ will find a champion who completes the 11 ‘telematch’-style activities in the fastest time. Elsewhere, ‘Smurf World’, a village filled with fun activities dedicated to the little blue characters of comic and television fame. Their popularity is summed up by the 10 million Smurf CDs sold in the last 3 years alone and the upcoming ‘Smurfs’ movie is due out this summer. And for kids that want to show-off their ambitions, there is ‘Career World’, where they can dress up and land any one of 12 dream careers.

Elsewhere, 13 Cartoon Network characters appearing in ‘Cartoonival’ – the renowned kids’ TV network’s debut live-action spectacle – top the daily programme of state-of-the-art shows in Abu Dhabi Hall, the GCC’s largest indoor entertainment venue. Similarly, ‘Show World’ - a specially-constructed, 120-capacity theatre - will feature twice-daily shows by international favourites such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora The Explorer, as well as Marvel’s Thor, Spiderman, Captain America and Green Goblin.

With ADNEC entry rates of AED20 for children aged up to 12 years old – toddlers up to two years old go free - and AED40 for adults covering the majority of ADNEC activities, visitors can try out all the activities and receive two free tokens for fairground rides. Tickets for the Cartoonival show are available at boxofficeme.com.

“We have packed the programme this year to live up to the expectations of over 90% of last year’s visitors who said they would return and the more than two thirds who said they would recommend it to others in a post event survey,” said Al Sheikh.

For the first time in Summer in Abu Dhabi history, a host of deals, discounts and attractive packages at attractions across Yas Island, Abu Dhabi’s purpose-built entertainment destination just 10 minutes drive from Abu Dhabi International Airport, has been incorporated into the event schedule.

To find out more information, interested parties can log on to www.summerinabudhabi.com or www.abudhabievents.ae.
 

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