A tourism delegation led by the Department of Culture and Tourism– Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) visited three major cities in China this month, to help raise awareness about the emirate as a holiday destination for Chinese travellers.

The delegation, which included Etihad Airways, hotels, tour operators and attractions, visited capital city Beijing on 19th March, followed by Nanjing on the 21st and finally Guangzhou on the 23rd, for its annual roadshow.

China is now the leading overseas source market for Abu Dhabi hotel guests, with the latest figures revealing a 40.9% increase, year-to-date, from visitors from China compared to 2017. In the first two months of 2018, 86,400 Chinese visited the emirate, with February alone accounting for an impressive 83.6% increase. The Department is targeting 600,000 Chinese hotel guests a year by 2021.

DCT Abu Dhabi has been spearheading a number of delegations visiting the Chinese market on roadshows and promotional exhibitions. These initiatives have been effective in terms of meeting with stakeholders and exchanging knowledge, generating deals for the emirate’s airlines, hotels, and destination management companies and raising the emirate’s profile as a destination of distinction amongst Chinese travellers.

Several tourist attractions and hotels across the emirate have already received the China Tourism Academy’s Welcome Chinese Certification, awarded to destinations offering high quality services to Chinese visitors, including Mandarin-speaking staff, while recent legislation now means Chinese visitors do not need a visa to visit Abu Dhabi, making the process of staying in the emirate even easier.

Many leading destinations and hotels across Abu Dhabi also now accept China Union Pay bank cards making it easier for Chinese tourists to stay and travel.

Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director Promotions and Overseas Offices, DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “With a diverse range of leisure and entertainment options and plentiful supply of high-quality hotels and shopping malls, Abu Dhabi will continue to position itself as an attractive destination for Chinese travellers. Moving forward, we will continue to promote Abu Dhabi’s unique offerings focused on presenting the best culturally-enriching experiences to our Chinese visitors who are seeking to experience new cultures.

“We have actively increased our efforts to capture the awareness of and convert Chinese travellers to visit Abu Dhabi. The efforts focused on lowering access barriers to Chinese travellers by preparing digital platforms, including our website and mobile application to fully support Mandarin-speaking users. We have formed partnerships with the popular technology companies Weibo, Wechat and Baidu to help DCT Abu Dhabi reach millions of new potential Chinese travellers.”

Joining the delegation with DCT Abu Dhabi were representatives from Emirates Palace Hotel, Miral/Yas Island, Etihad Airways, St. Regis Abu Dhabi, the Royal Arabian destination management company, Royal Rose Hotel, Omeir Travel Agency and Jannah Hotels & Resorts.

The roadshow expected to attract more than 300 travel agents and tour operators to explore new and existing business ventures.

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