Business | General

Curtain falls on Abu Dhabi festival

Debut event covered 13,000 square metres of indoor space and drew about 135,000 visitors.

  • By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:32 August 19, 2008
  • Gulf News

Abu Dhabi An eight-week family festival tipped as the UAE capital's largest and organised jointly by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Auth-ority (ADTA) and Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec) ended on Monday, the organisers said on Tuesday.

An Adnec executive reached by Gulf News declined to provide figures for the revenue and profit generated by 'Summer in Abu Dhabi.' She also wouldn't comment on whether or not it will be held next year.

Summer in Abu Dhabi was spread over 13,000 square metres of air-conditioned indoor space at Adnec and harmonised interactive exhibitions; theatre productions; mini-shows; workshops; and extreme sports to provide a uniquely segregated environment offering intellectual and social activities.

Success story

"Our target for this event was between 125,000 and 150,000 visitors. At the moment we have counted around 135,000 visitors, with special visits from sponsors, charities, VIPs etc. still to be incorporated into the final figures," said a statement from the organisers.

"We are delighted with this attendance, which for a debut event is quite remarkable. We are equally pleased with the superb visitor feedback, the huge number of visitors from outside of Abu Dhabi and the high percentage of return visitors. Summer in Abu Dhabi has been a real success story for the emirate and we thank all who has made the event possible," it added.

Ahmad Al Mazroui, managing director of Adnec, previously told Gulf News that the aim of organising the event is to create a "family edutainment extra-vaganza."

"This event does not focus on revenues; we are doing this for the community," he added.

Al Mazroui said that for Adnec and Adta, the event is a "long-term investment designed to extend the tourism season in the capital."

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