Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec) expects 1.5 million visitors to attend events at the new Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre during 2008.

This is a 50 per cent increase on initial predictions attributed to soaring attendance records.

The revised figures also indicate that Adnec will grow the exhibition industry in the UAE by around 33 per cent, rather than the 25 per cent previously predicted.

International and national event organisers have been extremely quick to stage events at Adnec since the venue was opened by Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, in February 2007.

More than 60 major exhibitions and conferences are already scheduled for next year.

Commenting on the increased numbers, Adnec CEO Simon Horgan, said: “The emirate of Abu Dhabi and the international exhibition industry have been very quick to embrace Adnec. Our initial plan was to attract one million visitors by 2009 and this would have been a triumph for a brand new exhibition centre. To now be expecting 1.5 million in 2008 is an astonishing achievement which catapults Adnec into the world’s premier league of exhibition and conference venues. Adnec would like to thank all involved in making this project such a success.”

Adnec recently announced that construction work has begun on both Phase 2 of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) and the surrounding Capital Centre development.

The Dh580 million ($158 million) Phase 2 project is scheduled for completion in October 2008, and it will see Adnec double in size to become the Middle East's largest purpose-built exhibition centre with inter-connected exhibition floor space totalling more than 55,000 sq m.

On completion in early 2011, the Capital Centre development, which surrounds Adnec, will house a new micro-city of 23 towers, a 2.3 kilometre waterfront Marina Zone; a proposed monorail and the ‘Galleria’ - a shopping mall with restaurants, retail outlets, and cinemas. The most distinctive feature of the development will be the iconic 35-storey Feature Tower which will include a 200+ room five-star-plus hotel and 20,000 sq m of office and retail space.-TradeArabia News Service