Abu Dhabi has appointed a full team in New Delhi to serve the whole country, including dedicated MICE and PR representations. Veteran Indian travel industry professional Bejan Dinshaw will lead the team as it looks to increase visitor numbers to Abu Dhabi, persuade those already travelling to stay longer and to win major corporate meetings business for the destination.
The Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) has move comes as India is identified as holding out huge potential for the destination being less than three hours flying time from most Indian centres and with 124 flights a week linking nine Indian destinations with Abu Dhabi International Airport.
“This is a natural progression from the work we have done over the past two years when we have been getting the pulse of the Indian market via road shows and participation in trade fairs,” explained Mubarak Al Nuaimi, International Promotions Manager, TCA Abu Dhabi.
“We have reaped dividends from our ‘toe in the water’ approach with India now being our second largest overseas market for hotel guests after the UK. You can gauge our aspirations of the market by the fact that we are launching our first international road show for 2013 and we chose to have it in India,” he added.
News of the Abu Dhabi’ full-time presence in India came as TCA Abu Dhabi, along with its trade partner Lama Tours, led a 12-strong industry delegation representing its attractions, hotels and airline sectors on a five-day, whistle-stop road show promotion across five cities in the country, namely New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. The visit to Ahmedabad was the emirate’s first promotion in the Gujarat commercial capital and is aimed at leveraging the recent launch, by Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, of a daily service to Abu Dhabi International Airport.
“We see potential in the leisure sector as well as within the weddings and MICE segments and believe many Indian operators will wish to take first mover advantage in a destination which is now emphatically making its mark on the international tourism arena,” said Kulwant Singh, Managing Director, Lama Tours.
Following on from its 2013 India launch road show, TCA Abu Dhabi and a nine-strong stakeholder delegation will head to New Delhi’s SATTE travel and tourism show ready to receive potential trade partners at its Abu Dhabi pavilion. Abu Dhabi’s SATTE contingent includes tour operators, hotels and attractions. “This year’s SATTE participation represents an 80 per cent increase on last year which reflects Abu Dhabi demand for Indian business,” explained Al Nuaimi.
