Abu Dhabi looks to attract more visitors from Kingdom

After attracting more than 163,000 visitors from Saudi Arabia in 2019, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT Abu Dhabi) has redoubled its efforts to attract even more visitors to the UAE capital in 2020 with a series of promotional workshops in key Saudi cities.

The workshops were organized and held in partnership with Etihad Airways and Experience Hub, the trade and promotion arm of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.

The workshops, which took place from Feb. 9-11 in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, were aimed at Saudi media and travel trade professionals and served to highlight Abu Dhabi’s efforts in catering to Saudi travelers.

The sessions also helped attendees gain a better understanding of the UAE capital’s vast portfolio of attractions and offerings, which cover luxury, leisure and entertainment, culture and sports. Nearly 60 travel trade executives and 45 media representatives attended the workshops across the three days.

“We have successfully hosted a total of five workshops in three days in Saudi Arabia, including two media workshops and three travel trade workshops,” said Nabeel Al-Zarouni, regional promotions manager, Middle East and Africa at DCT Abu Dhabi.

“The media workshops focused on familiarizing media with Abu Dhabi as a destination and getting local reporters excited about what the emirate has to offer. The travel trade workshops, on the other hand, acted as a stakeholder engagement exercise through which we hope to encourage more local businesses to work alongside DCT Abu Dhabi in a way that benefits both the businesses and the destination. “Saudi Arabia is the seventhlargest source market for tourism in Abu Dhabi. Hence, it is a top priority at DCT Abu Dhabi to continue to provide Saudi travelers with the best standards of ser

travel trade executives and 45 media representatives attended the workshops organized by DCT Abu Dhabi in the Kingdom.

vice and luxury and to appeal to them through an array of exciting new attractions and events,” AlZarouni added.

Liam Findlay, general manager at Experience Hub, said: “Workshops such as these ensure that Saudi travel partners and trade media stay in the know about Yas Island’s latest developments. More importantly, such initiatives allow us to stay engaged with our partners so that we can provide them with the support they need to grow their own product offering to Saudi holidaymakers.”