Summer in Abu Dhabi – the six-week family-centric festival now in its third year – has been expanded to attract greater numbers of GCC visitors to the emirate and deliver greater benefits to its tourism sector.
The festival’s organiser Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), has brought eight venues in Abu Dhabi and the emirate’s heritage city of Al Ain under the Summer in Abu Dhabi umbrella and galvanisedstakeholders to provide 1-for-1 visitor deals during the festival period from June 24 to August 5.
“This is the biggest summer event to hit Abu Dhabi yet,” said Dayne Lim, Product Development Director, ADTA. “It’s a strong pitch to families within the GCC to come and spend time in Abu Dhabi where they’ll be guaranteed fantastic value and awesome entertainment.”
The festival will see a wide array of family activities and entertainment staged at Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre(ADNEC), Khalifa Park, Abu Dhabi Mall, Marina Mall and Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi, as well as Al Jimi Mall, Al Ain Mall and Bawadi Mall in Al Ain.
ADTA will be the main presenter of all of the events across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, with the exception of Khalifa Parkwhere the Abu Dhabi Municipality will present the entertainment.
The ADNEC festivities will comprise two unique branded entertainment acts, which will each run for two to three weeks in the recently-inaugurated Abu Dhabi Hall – the region’s biggest entertainment venue seating 6,000 – as well as Hall 11 which will be packed with six edutainment zones with activities for every age group.
Over at the six shopping malls in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain there will be a packed programme over six weeks centred on family entertainment, education and togetherness. The programme included plans for indigenous cultural performances, multi-dimensional entertainment experiences, ‘live’ cooking classes, competitions and workshops. The mall festivities will be complemented by an array of special offers and promotions from retailers.
“Our aim is to attract an additional 25,000 hotel guests to the emirate during this festival period which would be a 15% increase on last year,” explained Lim. “At the same time, we want visitors to stay longer and immerse themselves in Abu Dhabi’s varied experiences. We will be taking our message out to the GCC in a dedicated regional road show later this month and meeting both the media and trade there to engage them in this campaign.”
The GCC is Abu Dhabi emirate’s second largest international market after the UK. In the first quarter of this year, some 26,685 GCC nationals stayed in hotels throughout the emirate – a 29% rise on the same period last year.
“This is arguably the emirate’s most important market on account of its proximity, ease of accessibility and general travel propensity,” said Lim. “We have a much stronger tourism proposition now in terms of infrastructure and leisure product offerings and believe the timing is right for us to market ourselves more tangibly in the region.”
