Abu Dhabi eyes Australian tourism boost

With Abu Dhabi targeting 2.5 million tourist arrivals in 2013, Australia is being identified as a key market for incoming visitors to the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Visitor arrivals to Abu Dhabi rose by 13% in 2012, bucking the GFC, with the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (ADTCA) exceeded its target of 2.3 million hotel guests by almost 100,000.

In 2011, 34,930 Australians stayed in Abu Dhabi's hotels - up 35% on the previous year aided by increasing air links between the Emirate and Australia. Etihad Airways currently operates 28 weekly flights from Australia to Abu Dhabi while V Australia flies three-times a week to Sydney from the Emirate.

Speaking during a visit to Australia in 2012, ADTCA International Promotions Manager Mubarak Rashid Al Nuaimi stated "Abu Dhabi has been on Australian tourists' minds for some time, and we continue to see positive increases in visitors to the Emirate."

Abu Dhabi's strong tourism products and attractions are the driving force behind this targetted increase with the Emirate now offering over 80 products including state-of-the-art attractions, luxurious beachfront resorts, city centre hotels, the Arabian Gulf's first integrated wellness medical centre, tour operators and a sustainable desert retreat.

Abu Dhabi's most high profile hub of attractions is at Yas Island, just minutes from Abu Dhabi International Airport, which the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix circuit; a range of hotels including the iconic Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, the only hotel in the world straddling an F1 race track; Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the world's largest indoor theme park and the first ever Ferrari theme park in the world; and the recently-opened Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi, already acknowledged as one of the best waterparks in the world.

Developed by Aldar, Abu Dhabi's leading property development, management and investment company, Yas Island is being marketed as both a standalone holiday destination and an ideal trip-breaking stopover on flights from Australia to Europe.

Explaining the Emirate's flexibility, Al Nuaimi added "we see strong potential within Australia, both as a stopover for those travelling to Europe and beyond and increasingly as a stand-alone destination.

"Currently Australian guests in Abu Dhabi hotels average a stay of just over three nights - we want them to know there is now much more to see and do in the emirate so we can expand this length of stay."

Another recently opened attraction is the Arabian Nights Village, set on a dedicated plot in Al Khatem, half way between the UAE capital and the Emirate's heritage heartland of Al Ain, while Abu Dhabi's other attractions include its stunning Corniche, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque recently named one of the world's most talked about attractions by TripAdvisor - the Mina Zayed date and fish markets, while the development of an ambitious cultural district on the Emirate's Saadiyat Island will see the first attraction - a branch of the Louvre - open in 2015, followed by a division of the New York Guggenheim Museum in 2017.

Image shows Abu Dhabi's Yas Island.

7th March 2013 - YAS WATERWORLD TO START LADIES NIGHTS

17th August 2012 - ETIHAD RETAINS NAMING RIGHTS AT MELBOURNE’S DOCKLANDS STADIUM

18th February 2012 - ABU DHABI ESTABLISHES TOURISM AND CULTURE AUTHORITY

17th October 2008 - TELSTRA DOME TO BECOME ETIHAD STADIUM 

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