The number of business-related visitors to Abu Dhabi is to grow this year by around 200,000, from 1.3 million to 1.5 million, said a top official of the Abdu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).

Abu Dhabi will host the region’s leading business travel expo, the Gulf Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings (GIBTM) exhibition at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from March 28 to 30.

“This is our most active GIBTM pavilion to date, reflecting a major upgrade in Abu Dhabi’s meetings infrastructure and opportunities,” said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, international promotions manager, ADTA, a key supporter of GIBTM.

Some 45 of the destination’s stakeholders are packing a pavilion being mounted by ADTA and together they have attracted over 1,400 pre-scheduled industry appointments, a statement said.

The pavilion also marks the GIBTM debut of major new Abu Dhabi hotels and resorts including the recently opened Grand Millenium Al Wahda Hotel, the luxury Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel & Villas and Hyatt Capital Gate, the Jumeirah@Etihad Towers landmark five-star hotel, the first Jumeirah property in the UAE capital, and the The Rocco Forte Hotel Abu Dhabi, the first Rocco Forte property in the Emirates, both of which are due to open this year.

“These great new facilities, along with many other new additions and upgrades to existing properties are producing a compelling case of meetings in Abu Dhabi,” said Al Nuaimi. “They hold out a host of new opportunities for the trade.”

ADTA has a 10-year plan to have Abu Dhabi ranked in the world’s top 50 meetings destinations, increasing its convention potential 10-fold and its MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) and business tourism income five-fold, the statement said.

The MICE component of this is also expected to follow a similar trend growing to approximately 225,000.

Last year, travel for business as a percentage of Abu Dhabi hotel guests was 72 per cent or approximately 1.3 million of the 1.8 million who stayed in the emirate’s 115 hotels and hotel apartments – of this, some 215,000 guests arrived specifically for MICE activities, according to the statement. – TradeArabia News Service