Abu Dhabi’s young tourism industry is maturing into an international destination of distinction and has a firm base on which to progress, said a top official of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).

Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, chairman of ADTA complemented the industry on the recent nomination of Abu Dhabi by Lonely Planet and Frommer’s – two of the world’s leading travel guides – as a top destination to visit this year.

In a message in the first '2010 edition' of ADTA’s 'Seyaha' stakeholder magazine, Sheikh Sultan said, “The industry emirate-wide looks in its best shape ever to deliver on these prestigious recommendations.'

“With ever expanding attractions, tour and infrastructure propositions impacting the face of tourism throughout the emirate, we begin the next 12 months with a solid base on which to move significantly ahead in our aim of developing a world-class destination of distinction.”

Sheikh Sultan pointed out that a signature achievement of 2009 was the heightened co-operation in destination building by all in the industry.

“Together we are proving that we are very much aligned in our goals, committed to collaborative progress and share a market confidence that is built on strong fundamentals. We have, of course, much to achieve, but the huge strides we have made underline exceptional progress for such a youthful entrant onto the world tourism stage.”

Writing in the same magazine the ADTA director general, Mubarak Al Muhairi said though 2009 proved challenging for the tourism industry worldwide, Abu Dhabi’s stakeholders performed “exceptionally well in a subdued economic climate.”

Al Muhairi reiterated the authority’s commitment to an united stakeholder programme building on the launch of its ‘Partners in Progress’ scheme.

“We have got off to a great start and we intend to keep up the momentum,” he said. Future plans, said Al Muhairi, would focus on increased cross-segment marketing with co-operation marketing campaigns now being planned.

ADTA’s director general said the authority would also increase its investment to ensure the programme’s success.

“To ensure we deliver on the promises we have made, we are increasing our teams, expanding our outreach, investing in industry training and supporting, and initiating, new world-class events and programmes which will bring new visitors to our emirate and encourage those who have been, to return,” he added.

Despite continuing challenges within the international tourism sector, Al Muhairi said Abu Dhabi needed to keep up its highly focused destination awareness campaign.

“There are green shoots of economic recovery emerging in key markets around the world which we should take great hope from and we will, in the meantime, commit to sustained, pro-active marketing so that when the inevitable upturn comes, we are front of mind for a travelling public looking for a distinct destination with service levels and a visitor experience well above par,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service