ADCB builds up the US momentum
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The recently-launched Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau kicked off its inaugural road show in the USA visiting New York, Chicago and Washington, DC. The road show representatives met with over 200 key members of the USA’s meetings industry.
The roadshow culminated with an educational luncheon in Washington, DC hosted by the Embassy of UAE and attended by HE Yousef Al Otaiba, Ambassador of UAE to the US. A key luncheon highlight was a discussion featuring panelists Gillian Taylor, Manager, Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau and Janice LaChance, CEO of Special Libraries Association, and Talal Al Kaissi, a UAE Embassy Trade & Commercial Office representative, on exploring meetings opportunities in the Arabian Gulf. Moderated by Greta Kotler, Chief Global Development Officer of ASAE, the discussion covered opportunities for the association sector in the region, safety of groups visiting the region, women’s rights, infrastructure and the existing strong US – UAE ties.
Ambassador Al Otaiba said: “The UAE is USA’s single largest export market in the entire Middle-East and North Africa, with US$22.5bn in US exports in 2012. Growing tourism from the US to UAE as well as the huge potential of the US MICE market was central to the roadshow. For Abu Dhabi alone, in 2008 US hotel guest nights topped 313,000 with the number rising 44% to over 451,000 last year putting the US among the emirate’s top five international markets. American visitors are also among Abu Dhabi’s longest-staying hotel guests, staying an average of 5.5 days.”