ABU DHABI will showcase its new hotels and resorts opening imminently at this year’s World Travel Market. Global brands such as Rocco Forte, St Regis, Fairmont and Mandarin Oriental are among those expanding their portfolios in Abu Dhabi.
While Rocco Forte Abu Dhabi is set to open doors on November 7, 2011, the Mandarin Oriental plans to open a property on Saadiyat Island in 2012 and the Fairmont Abu Dhabi is scheduled to open in 2012.
The destination is also planning to use its participation in WTM this year to forge new relationships with emerging markets such as Russia, India and Korea as well as further strengthen partnerships with existing tour operators.
Abu Dhabi is now in the second year of its three-year partnership to be the Premier Partner of World Travel Market, a Reed Travel Exhibitions event. The destination is experiencing healthy growth in visitor numbers with an 18 per cent overall increase in 2010 and a 22 per cent increase to 117,836 in arrivals from the UK in 2010.
Mubarak Al Nuaimi, international promotions manager, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority said: “Visitors to this year’s Abu Dhabi pavilion at World Travel Market will find a host of new business opportunities in the form of brand new attractions, superb new beachfront resorts and city centre hotels as well as world-class events ideal for packaging and leveraging.
“WTM 2011 will be the travel industry’s opportunity to engage with a destination which is receiving record numbers of hotel guests and which is prioritising tourism in its long-term economic and social development plans.”