Department of Tourism Abu Dhabi honoured

A bud ha bi: department of culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, DCT Abu Dhabi, was named “Tourist Board of the Year” at this year’s prestigious TTG Travel Awards event, which was held in London.

DCT Abu Dhabi took the winning spot within the “Tourist Board of the Year” category, which was sponsored by Jcdecaux. The other category nominees included Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., Brand USA UK & Ireland, South African Tourism, The Tunisian National Tourist Ofice, Tourism and Events Queensland and Tourism Australia.

The annual awards are regarded as being the toughest in the industry, with inalists going through a number of stages including agent voting and judging by a top industry panel and TTG journalists.

The DCT Abu Dhabi UK ofice was recognised for its fantastic work with agents across the country, which included the organisation and execution of agent events and training, along with the familiarisation trips to the destination. The judges were wowed by the 13 percent growth in the visitor numbers from the United Kingdom, UK, and praised the tourist board for inding new and better ways of supporting its trade partners. Overall DCT Abu Dhabi scored very highly among the TTG travel agent audience.

Saif Saeed Ghobash, Under-secretary at DCT Abu Dhabi, said, “We are honoured to have received the “Tourist Board of the Year” award, so wish to thank all of the agents who voted for us, along with the team at TTG. The past 12 months have been fantastic for Abu Dhabi, with the opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi and Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, plus the continuing excellent visitor arrival igures from the UK, which sees it remain the third largest international source market.”

The TTG Travel Awards are a highlight within the UK travel industry calendar, with the ceremony held at London’s Lyceum Theatre before the evening reception at The Savoy hotel.