Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) announced yesterday at a news conference that it had won the bid to host the ‘World Route Development Forum 2012'.
This would enable it to bring the air transport industry's largest international event to the UAE capital.
The 18th World Route Development Forum is expected to be the largest ever planned when it opens with 3,500-4,000 decision-making delegates expected to attend. The event is slated to run from September 30 to October 3, 2012.
"The winning bid is a collective achievement for Abu Dhabi as a whole, not just for the aviation sector, and provides an opportunity to showcase the UAE's capital city and the wider emirate to the world," said Khalifa Al Mazroui, chairman of ADAC.
"Abu Dhabi is an international tourism destination. International tourism is extremely important to us. This event will help this destination and other destinations expand their links," said Ahmad Hussain, Deputy Director General of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority has a five-year strategic plan under which it hopes to attract 2.7 million hotel guests a year by 2012. The emirate's international airline Etihad Airways is aiming to fly 25 million passengers a year by 2020 and expand its network to up to 100 business and leisure destinations.
‘Routes' has partnerships with the world's leading air transport associations, such as the International Air Transport Association and International Civil Aviation Organisation.
The event is hosted by major and growing air hubs around the world each year. Previous hosts include London, Rome, Amsterdam, Madrid, Copenhagen, Dubai and Beijing.
This year's host will be Vancouver, and Berlin will host the 2011 forum.
