MORE than 70 per cent of the tickets for this year’s Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are already sold according to the event’s organisers who were in Bahrain to outline the emirate’s leisure tourism plans to travel trade and media.
Highlighting the major events planned for the coming year such as the world-famous motor race, the opening of the first Ferrari World theme park, the Red Bull Air Race and various other sporting contests, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) product development director Dayne Lim said: “We’re looking to do business with leisure operators and will incentivise them to create innovative packages which will encapsulate these headline events.”
The tourism authority along with representatives from Abu Dhabi Motor Sports Management and Etihad Airways were taking part in a roadshow aimed at promoting not only the emirate’s sporting events but also its nature and other leisure travel offerings.
Lim added: “This will be a defining year for leisure tourism in Abu Dhabi, which has traditionally been heavily reliant on the business tourism segment.
“While we are naturally looking to maintain and build on our Mice business, we believe we now have the product and the service back-up to increase our foothold in the leisure sector.
“We are looking to work with those who can see an opportunity to gain a foothold in an emerging destination of distinction, our visitor offering is set to increase substantially as we head towards the opening of major beachfront resorts and the 2013 launch of the much anticipated Louvre Abu Dhabi.”
Attendees at the roadshow heard that Abu Dhabi is on track to exceed its 2010 target of 1.65 million hotel guests, a rise of 10 per cent on last year, and already this year has welcomed 4,523 Bahraini visitors, up six per cent on the same period last year.
The emirate is also boosting its offerings with the construction of major projects such as Saadiyat Island, which will house the Louvre and a Guggenheim, and the Grand Canal Abu Dhabi, a 500-room Italian-themed resort rising on the beachfront at the fashionable Between the Bridges district which is to be operated by Ritz-Carlton.