Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi’s tourism sector is on the road to growth with an increasing number of people expected to visit the emirate, buoyed by a packed calendar of events, according to Sultan Al Daheri, acting executive director of tourism at Abu Dhabi’s Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA).
”Currently, we are on target to achieve our 2014 hotel guest target of 3.1 million. The outlook is good as we have major products coming to the market over the next 18 months, including Yas Mall, which will [be] the largest shopping complex in the emirate and will open this November, and of course, next year’s opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi,” he said.
In an interview with Gulf News, Al Daheri also said that the return of Abu Dhabi Classics concerts after three years has already received significant international response, and that TCA is set to announce new event initiatives in the coming months. He did not disclose any details about the upcoming events.
While visitors to the emirate appear to be concentrated in Abu Dhabi city, there are plans to bring more tourists to Al Ain and the Western Region.
“We are very much taking an emirate-wide approach to destination promotion, and have recently redesigned our exhibition promotion stand to reflect this.
Each [area] has compelling selling points — Abu Dhabi with the capital city, Saadiyat Island, Yas Island, and Ghantoot; Al Ain with its Unesco heritage sites offering; and Al Gharbia (Western Region) with its unique ‘where the desert meets the sea’ proposition,” Al Daheri said.
He added that TCA will open a visitor centre in Al Ghweifat on the Saudi Arabian border to inform people who are arriving to Abu Dhabi by road about the attraction in the Western Region.
Additionally, there are moves to upgrade the airport on Sir Bani Yas Island to an international status in order to boost arrivals and tourism to the area. The Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) has also proposed the lease of land to develop a four-star, family hotel aimed at providing affordable accommodation on the island.
“We are also heavily involved in the launch of the Sirdal tours product for the island where people will be able to go out on eco-fishing tours, and pearl-diving tours where they would dive as our forefathers used to do to seek their own pearls,” Al Daheri said.
Despite the increase in guest numbers in Abu Dhabi’s hotels, the average length of stay appears to be dropping, with the first eight months of this year having seen a dip of four per cent to just over three nights.
With that in mind, TCA currently has two priorities; increasing hotel guest numbers, and encouraging visitors who do come to stay longer.
“We are increasingly working with private sector event organisers to bring events and festivals to the emirate. We are working with the private and public sector on building the product offering, we are expanding our marketing, particularly on the powerful digital front, and we are proactively seeking out opportunities through our Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau to attract major conferences and exhibitions here,” Al Daheri said.
TCA is also working with Dubai and Oman on the Cruise Arabia initiative, which aims to raise the region’s appeal as a winter cruise destination. The permanent cruise terminal being built at Port Zayed, expected to open in 2016, is set to allow more cruise operators to use Abu Dhabi as a port.