Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has launched a regional variant of its original 'Advantage Abu Dhabi' initiative, with a slew of perks and privileges tailored to tap corporate meetings segment in the Gulf.

The latest ‘neighbourhood’ variant of Advantage Abu Dhabi offers a variety of market-leading incentives to corporations and meeting planners providing their events meet set criteria which specify they must be staged over the coming year and be attended by a minimum of 25 delegates staying a minimum of two nights, said a top official.

“The meetings industry is potentially a significant growth driver for our tourism sector. Apart from the tangible business returns, it can deliver additional destination benefits, including familiarising audiences to Abu Dhabi’s expanding range of world-class facilities and attractions and generating future return visits,” said Dayne Lim, ADTA product development director.

“The timing of this new seeding initiative is in line with our aim of achieving a 10 per cent rise in hotel guest occupancy throughout Abu Dhabi this year,' he pointed out.

The tourism authority has set a target of 1.65 million guests thie year and 'for this the performance of the business tourism sector will be critical as it accounts for about 80 per cent of the emirate’s hotel occupancy,' he added.

Incentives offered under the year-long programme include: a complimentary one-day meetings package to include meeting rooms, morning and afternoon tea breaks and basic audio-visual facilities; complimentary flight upgrades; a bonus Abu Dhabi city sight-seeing tour or complimentary dinner in selected restaurants.

Additionally, organisers and delegates travelling with Etihad Airways with receive double mileage under the award-winning airline’s Etihad Guest loyalty programme and instant Etihad Guest membership, Lim stated.

With seven new hotels coming on line in Abu Dhabi within the past six months and another 10 due to open in the emirate this year, the destination now boasts a wider-than-ever, state-of-the-art inventory of meetings facilities and a hotel room stock of 17,500, which is due to expand by a further 5,000 this year.

“Meetings organisers qualifying for incentives can select the one most suitable to fulfil their needs of staging affordable and productive events,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service