Abu Dhabi opens destination promotion office in India

NEW DELHI: Abu Dhabi – the largest of the seven emirates which make up the United Arab Emirates and home to the country’s capital, Abu Dhabi city – now has a destination representation office to serve the high potential Indian market.
The Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) move comes as India is identified as holding out huge potential for the destination being less than three hours flying time from most Indian centers and with 124 flights a week linking nine Indian destinations with Abu Dhabi International Airport.
“This is a natural progression from the work we have done over the past two years when we have been getting the pulse of the Indian market via road shows and participation in trade fairs,” explained Mubarak Al Nuaimi, International Promotions Manager, TCA Abu Dhabi.
“We have reaped dividends from our ‘toe in the water’ approach with India now being our second largest overseas market for hotel guests after the UK. You can gauge our aspirations of the market by the fact that we are launching our first international road show for 2013 and we chose to have it in India.”
From January to the end of November last year some 125,180 Indian guests stayed in Abu Dhabi’s hotels and hotel apartments – a 30% increase on the first 11 months of 2011 – and they accounted for 496,581 guest nights, which is a 34% rise on the 2011 comparative period. Indian guests are staying in Abu Dhabi’s hotels for an average of 3.97 nights.
“Should growth trends for the UK and India continue as they have been for the past 12 months, there is every likelihood that India will be Abu Dhabi’s largest overseas source market for hotel guests in 2014,” added Al Nuaimi. “There is absolutely no doubt that India will play a key role in assisting us attain our 2013 target of 2.5 million hotel guests.”
Abu Dhabi has appointed a full team, based in New Delhi but to serve the whole country, including dedicated MICE and PR representations. Veteran Indian travel industry professional Bejan Dinshaw will lead the team as it looks to increase visitor numbers to Abu Dhabi, persuade those already traveling to stay longer and to win major corporate meetings business for the destination.
“Quite simply there is much more to see and do in Abu Dhabi than ever before and much that will entice the Indian traveler from a luxury perspective, for family-oriented vacations, for those wanting to engage with the local culture or looking to visit any one of the many world-class sporting and cultural events and headline concerts staged in the emirate throughout the year,” said Dinshaw.
News of the Abu Dhabi’ full-time presence in India came as TCA Abu Dhabi, along with its trade partner Lama Tours, led a 12-strong industry delegation representing its attractions, hotels and airline sectors on a five-day, whistle-stop road show promotion across five cities in the country. The road show is taking in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. The visit to Ahmedabad is the emirate’s first promotion in the Gujarat commercial capital and is aimed at leveraging the recent launch, by Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, of a daily service to Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Lama Tours, which recently opened a dedicated office in Abu Dhabi city, is introducing specific packages for visitors looking to explore the UAE capital and its wider emirate.
“The prospects are excellent with the Abu Dhabi product maturing,” said Kulwant Singh, Managing Director, Lama Tours. “The leisure offering in particular will be given a major boost later this month when the much anticipated Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi – the UAE’s largest waterpark – opens on the entertainment hub of Yas Island.

India Post News Service