The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, ADTA, which manages the local tourism industry, is to assume lead arranger role in an ambitious initiative aimed at sustaining the destination’s expanding business tourism (MICE) segment, it was announced in late March.

The Advantage Abu Dhabi, AAD, initiative will catalyse and seed innovative and viable business events which are aligned to the Abu Dhabi Government’s 2030 Economic Vision.

Structured as a venture capital-type apparatus, AAD is designed to support the lucrative MICE segment to realise the direct tourism benefits it engenders and to ensure that the business tourism sector serves as an important growth pillar for Abu Dhabi’s long-term development goals.

AAD will see ADTA lead-arrange financial and/or non-financial resources to enable meeting planners and exhibition and conference organisers to catalyse and actualise new business events in Abu Dhabi across twelve strategic sectors.

These sectors are: energy, petrochemicals, metals, aviation/aerospace/defence, pharmaceuticals/biotech/life sciences, tourism, healthcare, education, transport/trade/logistics, media, financial services and telecommunications. Business event organisers with a viable proposal can apply to tap into the AAD Initiative, which lists financial grants, governmental endorsement, leadership patronage, cost rebates and marketing support among its main levers.

The AAD initiative will run for the next years, according to ADTA Chairman H.E. Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.

“This initiative solidly supports Abu Dhabi’s overall developmental goals. It represents our commitment to make a difference on the global business tourism scene, and back our ambitions with the necessary resources at our disposal. It is also tangible evidence that this emirate, which has invested heavily in MICE infrastructure, is determined to deliver on its aim of becoming a world-class business tourism and events destination on a global scale.”

“Criteria for assessing the type and degree of support will encompass social, economic and tourism impact, innovation and creativity, successful track record, in-depth industry understanding and expertise as well as commitment to Abu Dhabi’s long-term goals,” says Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, ADTA.

“The AAD initiative mirrors the ‘one-destination’ approach which enabled us to successfully bid for ‘host city’ status of the 2012 World Ophthalmology Congress – the world’s longest-running medical convention – which will deliver more than 12,000 visitors to the emirate,” says Al Muhairi. “This new initiative will be very much a partnership approach in which all concerned – organisers, venues and the destination – will together make a substantial difference to Abu Dhabi’s business tourism sector.”

Abu Dhabi views business tourism as the industry’s most lucrative segment and with wide-ranging impact on local economic and social growth. The wider business tourism sector currently accounts for around 80% of the emirate’s hotel guest profile – with 10% of this directly attributable to meetings, conferences and exhibitions.

ADTA will support the AAD initiative with an industry-wide professional development and training strategy aimed at giving the destination a distinct competitive edge.

The three-pronged training strategy will engage all industry sectors, with business tourism being a main beneficiary.

The strategy firstly addresses Abu Dhabi’s existing tourism industry workforce by implementing year-round mandatory short-term training programmes, focussing on customer-facing employees.

The second strategy phase will be aimed at greater Emiratisation of Abu Dhabi’s tourism sector. Currently less than one per cent of the local tourism workforce is Emirati and ADTA is targeting an increase to 5% by 2012.

“We are therefore identifying educational and training opportunities that will enable nationals gain a better insight into the diverse career opportunities within the wide tourism sector – and we believe business tourism is one area in which they could succeed,” Al Muhairi says.

ADTA’s third industry training strategic strand is aimed at evolving the emirate into the Middle East’s regional centre for tourism and hospitality education and training.

“To this end, we are in exploratory talks with renowned tourism and hospitality institutions to introduce both short-term and permanent programmes for local students and those from around the region who wish to come and study here,” says Al Muhairi.

The two ADTA announcements were made at the start of the third Gulf Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (GIBTM), the Middle East’s only dedicated trade show for the business tourism and meetings industry, held at ADNEC at the end of March and the beginning of April.