A nine-strong tourism delegation from Abu Dhabi, including representatives from the hotel industry, is to travel to Australia later this month to raise awareness of the emirate as a business and leisure tourist destination.
Led by Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), the group will go to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from July 29-31 to train travel agents and MICE consultants on the latest offerings in Abu Dhabi.
TCA Abu Dhabi is looking to build on the strong growth already seen recently in the number of Australians visiting the Emirate, reports WAM.
In the first five months of this year, 16,952 Australians stayed in the emirate’s hotels, up 8% on the same period last year. In all, the Australians delivered 62,187 guest nights, up 15% year-on-year up-swing and stayed, on average, 3.67 nights, up 7%.
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As well as hoteliers, the delegation will include representatives from Etihad Airways, DMCs, tour operators and Yas Island. Earlier this month, Etihad launched daily services from Perth to Abu Dhabi.
"Our timing could not be better," said TCA Abu Dhabi director, promotions and overseas offices Mubarak Al Nuaimi. "Etihad’s new sponsorship deal and the new Perth flights will bring increasing focus on Abu Dhabi and we need to capitalise on this.
"We anticipate meeting around 350 agents and consultants from both the leisure and MICE segments, including key influencers from Australia’s top retail travel chains and wholesalers and tour operators who currently contract Arabian Peninsula products."
The five-star, beachfront hotel, Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, says that it is benefitting from being part of Etihad Airways’ complimentary stopover and hotel stay scheme.
"We have seen exceptional growth in booked room nights by Australian guests over the past two years,” said general manager Doris Greif. “In 2013, the total number results in an outstanding 426% increase compared to the total number of room nights booked by Australians in 2012.
“Encouragingly, the positive trend is continuing with Australians booking a further 66% increase in the first five months of this year when compared to the same period last year.”
Meanwhile, the four-star Mafraq Hotel is also reporting growing interest from Australia, with guest numbers in the first six months of the year almost matching the total figure for 2013.
"The Australian market is still fairly new for us and we will focus this year and next on increasing business from both its leisure and MICE segments," said director of sales & marketing Fahim Zaman.
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