Abu Dhabi is heading to London's World Travel Market, which is one of the industry's biggest trade fairs, with a high-energy promotion featuring more partners and products than ever before.
The 500 sq.m. Abu Dhabi pavilion at the exhibition has been newly-designed to highlight the emirate's great landscape, and its cultural and diverse attractions.
"We will be demonstrating to visitors why Abu Dhabi is a suitable destination for a wide range of tourists, including families, independent or group travellers and has a vast range of interests to suit all budgets," said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director of Promotions and Overseas Offices, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, TCA Abu Dhabi.
The pavilion will focus on Abu Dhabi city, its surroundings and its islands, the Oasis City of Al Ain, which is the emirate's heritage heartland and a host of a myriad of UNESCO World Heritage sites, and Al Gharbia, the emirate's Western Region, which is where the desert meets the sea.
Some 82 co-exhibitors will populate the pavilion, 13 more than last year, with a compelling mix of hotels and resorts, tour operators, attractions, destination management companies and state-of-the-art sporting and major event venues.
"Eight of the co-exhibitors are completely new to our World Travel Market line-up, while many of the returnees have revamped and upscaled their offerings," explained Al Nuaimi. "In all, there are over 100 products being promoted in the city that is now easier than ever to get to, and where air connections with the U.K. are expanding with Etihad Airways, who also plan to launch a non-stop daily service from the Scottish capital of Edinburgh in June, its third U.K. gateway after Heathrow and Manchester." It is expected that the Edinburgh-Abu Dhabi Etihad flights will again increase U.K. visitors, who are currently the second largest overseas market for hotels guests after India.
"Traditionally the U.K. has been a key source market for us and this looks certain to continue," said Al Nuaimi. "We are actively pursuing trade links with Scotland's outbound travel industry and will be including the Scottish capital in our annual industry road show for the first time next year, ahead of the new service, to build destination awareness and stimulate consumer interest." The TCA said that in the first eight months of this year, 122,893 Britons checked into Abu Dhabi's 156 hotels and hotel apartments, which was a 27 percent year-on-year uplift. U.K. visitors delivered 533,181 guest nights, which was up 16 percent year-on-year.