Abu Dhabi has signed to a two-year agreement to become World Travel Market’s official Premier Partner for 2007 and 2008.
Tourism officials for the destination, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, said the move underlines its commitment to building its profile in the UK and wider European market.
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), formed in 2004, has set a target of more than doubling annual visitor numbers from 1.35 million last year to over three million by 2015.
The ADTA will use the platform of its sponsorship to help promote the philosophy of Abu Dhabi, as a destination attractive to more discerning up-market travellers.
The ADTA will also use its Premier Partner status to showcase Abu Dhabi’s ambitious plans to expand its tourism facilities, growing hotel capacity from 10,000 to 25,000 rooms by 2015.
WTM chairman Fiona Jeffery said: “Abu Dhabi is almost an untouched paradise but it is also rapidly emerging as an impressive centre of culture and cosmopolitan chic.
“The ADTA’s cultural quest to ‘honour the past and celebrate the future’ synergises perfectly with the continual development of World Travel Market.”
By Bev Fearis
