Abu Dhabi will later this month host the 63rd annual convention of The Travel Agents Association of India – the ‘voice’ of the country’s rapidly expanding travel and tourism sector. Around 600 TAAI delegates, and 40 Indian journalists, are due in the UAE capital for the meeting, and an associated exhibition, which will be held at the signature Emirates Palace hotel from October 14-16, 2016. The emirate was selected as host venue due to TAAI’s belief in Abu Dhabi’s MICE and leisure destination potential and as a dynamic global business events leader in the region.
Sultan Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director Tourism, TCA Abu Dhabi said, “The convention gives us an unparalleled opportunity to directly speak to these industry influencers who can impact a market which is now the emirate’s largest overseas hotel guest source market. We will be looking to impress upon delegates while they are here the emirate’s outstanding leisure traveller potential and its mounting credentials within the meetings, exhibitions, conventions and exhibitions sector.”
In the first half of this year some 152,423 Indians checked into Abu Dhabi’s hotel – a 20 per cent year-on-year uplift and accounting for seven per cent of all the emirate’s hotel guest stays. Indian guests currently stay in the emirate’s hotels for an average of 3.4 nights.
“We see enormous potential in building inbound traffic from India with five airlines, including our own national carrier Etihad, flying to destinations within the republic from Abu Dhabi International. There are currently over 300 flights a week from 15 Indian destinations to Abu Dhabi giving thousands of travellers easy access to our destination within a four-hour flight time,” added Al Dhaheri.
The TAAI delegation will be officially welcomed to Abu Dhabi at a special reception hosted by TCA Abu Dhabi at Emirates Palace. Once the delegates have conducted their daily business, they will be hosted on city tours and will tour Yas Island, the emirate’s entertainment destination including a visit to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi – the world’s only Ferrari theme park.
The TAAI Convention is the second major overseas summit being hosted in Abu Dhabi this month. From October 10-12, the emirate will host 2016 convention of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), which features the decision-makers of the UK travel and tourism industry including influential media representatives. The convention will be held at the iconic, five-star Yas Viceroy – the only hotel in the world to straddle an F1 race track.
