An improved website and initiatives to garner multi-stakeholder and partner bid development support for the emirate’s business events sector will be rolled out by the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau (ADCB) at ibtm arabia today (February 9).

Running till February 11 at Jumeirah at Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, the regional Meetings, Incentives, Conference & Exhibition (MICE) event celebrates its 10th anniversary edition this year.

“Our emphasis at ibtm arabia is to enhance awareness of the expanding range of business events facilities and outline a new compelling range of support which will solidify Abu Dhabi’s appeal as an international business events and incentives hub focused towards driving the emirate as a dynamic global business events leader,” said Mubarak Al Shamisi, ADCB Director.

The website offers a portal to direct proposal submissions with a new, user-friendly, four-stage Request For Proposal form ensuring tailored and relevant assistance, an interactive venue finder featuring all of the capital’s venues with business facilities, a mash-up map and TripAdvisor integration, as well as comparable case studies featuring Abu Dhabi events.

The improved website features an image-driven interface that is packed full of enriched and insightful new content, a comprehensive events calendar that can be filtered by business and leisure, the ability to download useful information and multimedia about business-related facts, figures, case studies and useful guides about Abu Dhabi as a meeting destination, as well as dedicated social media channels launched in July 2015 to ease event planning usability—all on a platform optimised for mobile devices.

The online facelift was revealed today at the Abu Dhabi pavilion at ibtm arabia, the leading event for the Arabian meetings, incentives, conferences and events industry, and the revamped abudhabi-cb.ae Convention Bureau website has been introduced as a part of a broader overarching TCA Abu Dhabi strategy to continuously update digital offerings for their users.

Enhancements to the emirate’s coordinated joint public and private sector “One Abu Dhabi” partnership bid development approach are also set to be unveiled.

Two dedicated Industry Development Committees - the first consisting of Governmental and strategic stakeholder partners, the other a collection of leading hoteliers, professional conference organisers and other sector partners - have been introduced for the business events sector.

The Governmental committee’s objective is to offer government support in the planning and execution of all upcoming events within the Convention Bureau whilst championing the emirate as a dynamic global business events leader. The task force works alongside the bureau to identify bid development opportunities within the business events sector and develop a strong foundation in the execution of upcoming business events to strengthen the chance of winning international bids.  

The Business Events committee meets to discuss international business event trends and development opportunities, and aims to increase the number of business events in the capital to expand the Abu Dhabi footprint whilst building a strong bid network to increase chances of winning varying bids.  

“The launch of a brand new Convention Bureau website allows event organisers to directly submit proposals and for stakeholders to work collaboratively on bids, and the two new industry development committees offer a unique bid development network with stakeholders, government entities, hoteliers, and service providers in an collaborative accessible and resourceful way,” added Al Shamisi.

Later in the year, the bureau will launch a new ambassador programme initiative involving local experts, academia, business leaders and government officials. The programme will see reputable ambassadors displaying Abu Dhabi’s strengths and advancements in various industries and therefore advocating the capital as an events destination within their specified economic categories.

“As the official host destination for this annual gathering of industry leaders, ibtm arabia is the perfect platform to introduce these initiatives to ensure Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau is well placed to continue to cater to all the fundamentals for the development of Abu Dhabi’s Meetings, Incentive, Conference and Exhibitions industry,” Al Shamisi said. – TradeArabia News Service