Abu Dhabi's tourism industry is planning a week-long promotion of the destination and its expanding offering in Saudi Arabia later this month with a high profile participation at Riyadh Travel Fair to be followed by a three-city road show.
The promotion, organised by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), is being supported by a range of industry stakeholders including hotels and resorts, Etihad Airways, headline attractions and a unique integrated wellness facility on Saadiyat Island.
The destination sales blitz begins at Riyadh Travel Fair - the Kingdom's leading tourism trade show, which runs at the Four Seasons Hotel - Kingdom Tower in the Saudi capital from April 23-26. The Abu Dhabi delegation will then move on to road show presentations to the Saudi travel trade in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah.
"We have superb airlift from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi with three providers - Etihad Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines and NASAIR - now servicing a combined total of 68 scheduled non-stop flights a week from the Kingdom," said Mubarak Al Nuami, Director Promotions & Overseas Offices, TCA Abu Dhabi.
"This give us huge potential to attract Saudi visitors to our emirate where we believe our product mix will meet their specific needs - one of our main focuses now is to make this target audience fully aware of the fact that there is now so much more to see and do in Abu Dhabi and to persuade them to stay with us longer than they currently do on average," he added.
Saudi Arabia is currently Abu Dhabi's sixth largest overseas source market for hotel guests. In the first two months of this year some 12,322 Saudis stayed in the emirate's 141 hotels and hotel apartments and delivered 27,256 guest nights. They stayed, on average, 2.25 nights.
"The average-length-of-stay of our Saudi guests is short - although it has been showing signs of increasing lately," said Al Nuaimi. "Yet the destination's offering has grown significantly so it is just a question of getting the news out to stimulate demand," said Mubarak Al Shamisi, Country Manager Saudi Arabia, TCA Abu Dhabi.
"We have been working very closely with key Saud travel trade players since establishing our office in the Kingdom last year and they have given us a very positive response with their help we will stimulate demand from what is a very significant market for us," he said.
Joining the Abu Dhabi pavilion at Riyadh Travel Fair are: Anantara Hotels & Resorts which operates three resorts in Abu Dhabi including the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa, the Desert Islands Resort & Spa on the nature-based Sir Bani Yas Island and the stunning Qasr Al Sarab (Mirage Palace) Desert Resort & Spa nestled in the towering dunes of the Liwa Desert; Emirates Palace, one of the world's most opulent hotels; the newly-opened The Royal International Hotel Abu Dhabi, which is just a five minutes' walk from the UAE UAE capital's Corniche and The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, named one of the world's ultimate beach resorts by the leading European online booking resource ebookers.com.
"We have high hopes of the Saudi market because we have family rooms, which is very convenient for the nature of the Saudi tourist where two rooms connect with suites on the same floor," said Wael Eissa, Director of Sales & Marketing.
The line-up also features the iconic Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi - the only hotel in the world straddling an F1 race track on Abu Dhabi's entertainment destination of Yas Island, which has seen a series of recent enhancements.
"Yas Beach has recently opened which gives our guests access to a beach facility and the opening of the Yas Waterworld waterpark which have added to the great portfolio of the already established Yas Island activities of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Links golf course, the Yas Marina & Yacht Club and the Yas Marina Circuit with its karting and motorsports activities," explained Peter Edholm, Director of Sales, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi.
"We are looking forward to increasing leisure segmentation through collaboration with other Yas Island stakeholders to achieve our common goal of promoting and creating awareness of Yas Island as a top destination of choice. Saudi Arabia is very important for us as we are aiming to increase holiday and family guest stays with fabulous offers specifically a targeted at this market. Our family and holiday promotions will combine five-star accommodation and 12 great varied dining choices along with access to the Yas Island theme parks," he said.
Ferrari World Abu Dhabi says Saudis currently rank among its key visitor segment. "From what we've seen in our first two years of operation, our theme park has great appeal to tourists from KSA," explained Andy Keeling, Park Manager. "Through the partnerships we're seeking with the travel industry in the Kingdom we hope that we'll be able to help create destination offers for the Saudi market so more can enjoy the unique Ferrari World Abu Dhabi experience."
Together with Yas Waterworld, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi recently launched a Yas Park Pass - a dual-combo deal that gives guests access to both parks on one ticket. One-day and two-day combo packages and are available in four price brackets. Fast queuing options are available, as are different rates for adults and juniors. Available at both park's ticket counters, the one-day pass lets visitors experience both venues on the same day, while a two-day pass allows visitors to sample each park within 14 days of each other. Both tickets allow single admission to each park. Tickets can also be bought online and then collected at each park's ticket counter.
Also in the Saudi road show spotlight will be the recently opened The Ritz Carlton Grand Canal, Abu Dhabi - a five-star beachfront resort.
"We want to promote our new hotels in the Saudi market as we have 85 private villas and a large inventor of suites which are ideal for Saudi inbound travellers," said Pep Lozano, General Manager.
Other stakeholders who are Riyadh bound are: Rotana Hotels, the Crowne Plaza Yas Island, the four-star City Seasons Al Hamra Hotel, Al Diar Hotels which operates a number of properties in Abu Dhabi, Al Masaood Travel, Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, the Mafraq Hotel, Tourism Development & Investment Company Al Manzel Hotel Apartments and DNA Health Corp., the name behind the new integrated healthcare facility on Saadiyat Island.
The Abu Dhabi delegation will also be out to promote this year's expanded offering from the annual F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
"This year's Grand Prix features an expanded entertainment programme and a greater number of ticket categories that start from just SR365 per person," added Al Shamisi. "As Saudis are big motorsports lovers the heightened programme should really appeal."
Among the new Abu Dhabi Grand Prix categories are family ticket packages, a Friday Brunch Ticket, an Abu Dhabi Hill General Admission Ticket, as well as exclusive options including the Yas Trackside Terrace and the Yas Marina Tower. Visitors and residents can also buy a Yas Pass, which extends the fun of the F1 weekend to include access to neighbouring Yas Waterworld and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. Fans can also take advantage of a 20% early bird discount on selected tickets until 31 May.
A range of all-inclusive flight, hotel and race weekend packages for regional and international fans are available from key destinations in Etihad Airways' growing international network.
Support races confirmed for the race weekend include the GP2 and GP3 Series, as well as the Porsche Supercup. In addition to the thrilling motorsport action on-track, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ticket holders enjoy exclusive access to an inclusive and interactive entertainment programme in the Oasis areas behind the Yas Marina Circuit grandstands.
Also exclusive to ticket holders are the Yasalam After-Race concerts held at du Arena. The Yasalam festival runs for a month before the race weekend, and features free concerts, film nights and community events taking place across Abu Dhabi.
The destination sales blitz begins at Riyadh Travel Fair - the Kingdom's leading tourism trade show, which runs at the Four Seasons Hotel - Kingdom Tower in the Saudi capital from April 23-26. The Abu Dhabi delegation will then move on to road show presentations to the Saudi travel trade in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah.
"We have superb airlift from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi with three providers - Etihad Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines and NASAIR - now servicing a combined total of 68 scheduled non-stop flights a week from the Kingdom," said Mubarak Al Nuami, Director Promotions & Overseas Offices, TCA Abu Dhabi.
"This give us huge potential to attract Saudi visitors to our emirate where we believe our product mix will meet their specific needs - one of our main focuses now is to make this target audience fully aware of the fact that there is now so much more to see and do in Abu Dhabi and to persuade them to stay with us longer than they currently do on average," he added.
Saudi Arabia is currently Abu Dhabi's sixth largest overseas source market for hotel guests. In the first two months of this year some 12,322 Saudis stayed in the emirate's 141 hotels and hotel apartments and delivered 27,256 guest nights. They stayed, on average, 2.25 nights.
"The average-length-of-stay of our Saudi guests is short - although it has been showing signs of increasing lately," said Al Nuaimi. "Yet the destination's offering has grown significantly so it is just a question of getting the news out to stimulate demand," said Mubarak Al Shamisi, Country Manager Saudi Arabia, TCA Abu Dhabi.
"We have been working very closely with key Saud travel trade players since establishing our office in the Kingdom last year and they have given us a very positive response with their help we will stimulate demand from what is a very significant market for us," he said.
Joining the Abu Dhabi pavilion at Riyadh Travel Fair are: Anantara Hotels & Resorts which operates three resorts in Abu Dhabi including the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa, the Desert Islands Resort & Spa on the nature-based Sir Bani Yas Island and the stunning Qasr Al Sarab (Mirage Palace) Desert Resort & Spa nestled in the towering dunes of the Liwa Desert; Emirates Palace, one of the world's most opulent hotels; the newly-opened The Royal International Hotel Abu Dhabi, which is just a five minutes' walk from the UAE UAE capital's Corniche and The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, named one of the world's ultimate beach resorts by the leading European online booking resource ebookers.com.
"We have high hopes of the Saudi market because we have family rooms, which is very convenient for the nature of the Saudi tourist where two rooms connect with suites on the same floor," said Wael Eissa, Director of Sales & Marketing.
The line-up also features the iconic Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi - the only hotel in the world straddling an F1 race track on Abu Dhabi's entertainment destination of Yas Island, which has seen a series of recent enhancements.
"Yas Beach has recently opened which gives our guests access to a beach facility and the opening of the Yas Waterworld waterpark which have added to the great portfolio of the already established Yas Island activities of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Links golf course, the Yas Marina & Yacht Club and the Yas Marina Circuit with its karting and motorsports activities," explained Peter Edholm, Director of Sales, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi.
"We are looking forward to increasing leisure segmentation through collaboration with other Yas Island stakeholders to achieve our common goal of promoting and creating awareness of Yas Island as a top destination of choice. Saudi Arabia is very important for us as we are aiming to increase holiday and family guest stays with fabulous offers specifically a targeted at this market. Our family and holiday promotions will combine five-star accommodation and 12 great varied dining choices along with access to the Yas Island theme parks," he said.
Ferrari World Abu Dhabi says Saudis currently rank among its key visitor segment. "From what we've seen in our first two years of operation, our theme park has great appeal to tourists from KSA," explained Andy Keeling, Park Manager. "Through the partnerships we're seeking with the travel industry in the Kingdom we hope that we'll be able to help create destination offers for the Saudi market so more can enjoy the unique Ferrari World Abu Dhabi experience."
Together with Yas Waterworld, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi recently launched a Yas Park Pass - a dual-combo deal that gives guests access to both parks on one ticket. One-day and two-day combo packages and are available in four price brackets. Fast queuing options are available, as are different rates for adults and juniors. Available at both park's ticket counters, the one-day pass lets visitors experience both venues on the same day, while a two-day pass allows visitors to sample each park within 14 days of each other. Both tickets allow single admission to each park. Tickets can also be bought online and then collected at each park's ticket counter.
Also in the Saudi road show spotlight will be the recently opened The Ritz Carlton Grand Canal, Abu Dhabi - a five-star beachfront resort.
"We want to promote our new hotels in the Saudi market as we have 85 private villas and a large inventor of suites which are ideal for Saudi inbound travellers," said Pep Lozano, General Manager.
Other stakeholders who are Riyadh bound are: Rotana Hotels, the Crowne Plaza Yas Island, the four-star City Seasons Al Hamra Hotel, Al Diar Hotels which operates a number of properties in Abu Dhabi, Al Masaood Travel, Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, the Mafraq Hotel, Tourism Development & Investment Company Al Manzel Hotel Apartments and DNA Health Corp., the name behind the new integrated healthcare facility on Saadiyat Island.
The Abu Dhabi delegation will also be out to promote this year's expanded offering from the annual F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
"This year's Grand Prix features an expanded entertainment programme and a greater number of ticket categories that start from just SR365 per person," added Al Shamisi. "As Saudis are big motorsports lovers the heightened programme should really appeal."
Among the new Abu Dhabi Grand Prix categories are family ticket packages, a Friday Brunch Ticket, an Abu Dhabi Hill General Admission Ticket, as well as exclusive options including the Yas Trackside Terrace and the Yas Marina Tower. Visitors and residents can also buy a Yas Pass, which extends the fun of the F1 weekend to include access to neighbouring Yas Waterworld and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. Fans can also take advantage of a 20% early bird discount on selected tickets until 31 May.
A range of all-inclusive flight, hotel and race weekend packages for regional and international fans are available from key destinations in Etihad Airways' growing international network.
Support races confirmed for the race weekend include the GP2 and GP3 Series, as well as the Porsche Supercup. In addition to the thrilling motorsport action on-track, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ticket holders enjoy exclusive access to an inclusive and interactive entertainment programme in the Oasis areas behind the Yas Marina Circuit grandstands.
Also exclusive to ticket holders are the Yasalam After-Race concerts held at du Arena. The Yasalam festival runs for a month before the race weekend, and features free concerts, film nights and community events taking place across Abu Dhabi.
