Why Abu Dhabi for Your Next Meeting or Event?
Abu Dhabi, the capital and the largest of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE), offers the best of the modern and the traditional. Here are cutting-edge meeting facilities, soaring spires of commerce, stunning white beaches and shimmering turquoise waters. Attendees can explore the rich cultural bounty of Qasr al Hosn, Abu Dhabi city’s oldest stone building, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first universal museum in the Arab World. Your group also will enjoy authentic local culture, expanses of awesome desert and unforgettable experiences replete with menageries of horses, camels and falcons, artisan crafts and charming legends.
Meet Abu Dhabi
Only in Abu Dhabi
- The Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau has entered
into partnership with SITE — the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence — to
enable its employees and stakeholders to receive a specialized professional
certificate and reap the rewards of the society’s programs and best practices.
This follows another recently announced alliance with global travel service
provider Trip.com, which will generate a slate of social and economic
initiatives to attract visitors worldwide, as well as promote conservation
practices for sustainable tourism.
- The convention bureau has a partnership with destination management company Miral to provide financial incentives to support large meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions in the UAE capital and especially Yas Island, which has become a top location for leisure, entertainment and hospitality. The program rolled out on Jan. 1, 2022, with an initial focus on meetings and incentive travel. Efforts will include hosting client events, familiarization trips, site inspections and more.
- In related news, the CVB has forged an agreement with Etihad
Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, to support MICE
groups traveling to the destination. Among the offerings to eligible clients
will be complimentary and discounted flights, event-planning assistance and a
series of value-adds to event organizers. Contact the bureau for more
information. And the convention bureau recently announced a partnership with prominent global travel service provider Trip.com, which will generate a slate of social and economic initiatives to attract visitors worldwide, including meetings business, as well as to promote conservation practices for sustainable tourism.
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The
emirate’s department of culture and tourism has unveiled the new Advantage Abu
Dhabi Meetings & Incentives 2.0, an enhanced version of a program that
provides value-adds and benefits to meetings and incentive organizers,
including complimentary or reduced costs on site inspections, welcoming drinks,
airfare, guest rooms and guest-room upgrades, spa discounts and more.
- The Louvre Abu Dhabi, an offshoot of the famous French repository of art, is located on Saadiyat Island and is rapidly becoming a major cultural
center with numerous other museums and more in the works. Visitors will find some 600 stellar works
from around the world spread among 23 galleries.
- The largest house of worship in the
United Arab Emirates, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque can hold more than 40,000 people and is an essential stop for visitors of all faiths. Completed
in 2007, the mosque’s stunning design incorporates stunning touches from
different Muslim civilizations and includes ornate onion-top domes, a
reflective pool that engulfs the courtyard, and the iconic prayer hall
with what is said to be the world’s biggest chandelier.
- Yas
Island, just 20 minutes from downtown Abu Dhabi, is a
fast-growing leisure and entertainment district bristling with colorful theme
parks (like Warner Bros. World and Yas Waterworld), sports and shopping.
Meeting planners now can access a full calendar of events, including
Broadway-style musicals, special Walt Disney shows, Grand Prix car racing,
championship golf and more taking place here over the next year.
Travel Essentials
- Taxes: Abu Dhabi city tax, 6%; municipality tax, 4%, plus US$4 per night; total tax on hotel rooms,10% plus US$4 per night
- Convention Centers: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center; number of meeting rooms, 24; total exhibit space, 785,765 square feet indoors, 601,702 square feet outdoors. The venue includes the 86,111-square-foot International Convention Center, the emirate’s largest indoor auditorium, which can accommodate 6,000 guests seated and 8,000 standing.
Al Ain Convention Center; number of meeting rooms, 7; total exhibit space, 992,518 square feet
- CVB: Abu Dhabi Convention & Exhibition Bureau
- Local Currency: UAE dirham (AED or Dhs); US$1 equals about AED 3.67
- Power: Standard voltage, 220 V; standard frequency, 50 Hz
- Time Zone: Four hours ahead of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, formerly known as GMT). There is no daylight saving. Beginning in 2022, Abu Dhabi's business is conducted Mon.-Fri. each week; previously, the work week was Sun.-Thurs.
- Transportation: Abu Dhabi International Airport, about 20 miles from the city center. Transfer cost by taxi, about US$22