Around 33,000 visited TCA Abu Dhabi’s inaugural destination festival, a large-scale outdoor experiential promotional activity, today (September 22) in Moscow, Russia.

For one day only, Moscow’s Hermitage Garden was transformed into a world of Arabia, filled with aromas, coffee and spices, the sound of the Arabic oud and graceful movements of traditional dancers.

Festival guests participated in cultural workshops, fascinating lectures and mini-F1 competitions to win valuable prizes, visited an authentic Arabian bazaar and food market, and had the opportunity to try their hand at falconry, camel riding, and enjoy live concerts.

Festival goers snapped up more than 15,000 brochures and 30,000 leaflets from the Abu Dhabi pavilion. More than 3,000 surveys were filled that together with competition subscribers constructed a big database.

The unique destination festival devoted to Emirati culture and traditions – Abu Dhabi Fest –is the first initiated by Russian and CIS office of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.

“This is the first time we have recreated authentic Abu Dhabi experiences within the heart of Moscow aimed at sharing Abu Dhabi’s highlights to retain our market share during a period of flux for the outbound travel market and inspire growth from our Russian visitors,” said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, TCA Abu Dhabi Director Promotions and Overseas Offices.

“In addition to the exceptional crowds, the festival fuelled hype and significant social media interest, so much so that we will consider making the festival an annual event,” added Al Nuaimi.

For the first seven months of 2015, Abu Dhabi welcomed 15,445 guests, generating 68,778 guest nights.

On the eve of the festival, F1 fans could participate in photo competitions to win a package trip for two to the season-ending Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where a miniature Yas Marina Circuit took central stage in the festival.

The festival was a resounding success according to Olga Manolova, representative of news agency Ridus.ru: “Abu Dhabi Fest gave the visitors one more day to enjoy summer and a chance to escape to an Emirati world while staying in Moscow. I expect many people learned a great deal about Abu Dhabi, and what it offers as a holiday destination.”

The festival was supported by Etihad Airways, Yas Marina Circuit, Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld, Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan, Yas Island Rotana, AVIS, Space Travel, Coral Travel, Hot tours and many others.

Media partners were Best FM radio, sport portals championat.com and F1 news, photo portal Geometria, web publishing (online, TV and radio) M24, Ridus news agency, Jamie magazine, Gismeteo and many others.

“Despite a year-on-year drop of 10% in visitor numbers, our Russian guests stay on average 4.45 nights, well ahead of the industry average of 2.7 nights, underlining the importance of the market to our partners,” added Al Nuaimi.

“Given the response to this initiative, we are inspired to fulfil our creative promotional campaigns and deliver a programme of marketing activities to unlock the potential of these exciting Russian and CIS markets.” – TradeArabia News Service