The Meet China Forum 2015, which is backed by Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, TCA Abu Dhabi, and organised by the Chinese NPI Media company in cooperation with Highway Tourism, was launched yesterday at a reception at Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace.
The reception was attended by Huang Jiemin, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the UAE, and Sultan Hamad Al Mutawa Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director at Abu Dhabi TCA, a delegation of 70 Chinese tour operator representatives, and several senior tourism service providers in the Emirate, including hoteliers, in an effort to enhance tourism numbers from China.
In his opening statement, Al Dhaheri said, "In the first six months of this year, some 102,217 Chinese guests checked into Abu Dhabi's hotels and hotel apartments which was a huge 72% jump on figures from January to June 2014. The Chinese guests delivered 148,842 guest nights, which was a leap of 41% year-on-year. The figures make China Abu Dhabi's third largest overseas source market." He also added, "We seek to attract more Chinese tourists to explore our emirate and encourage them to take advantage of the wide range of tourist activities that the emirate offers in hopes of providing them with a satisfactory visit, such as the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which will be held in November, Abu Dhabi Classics 2015, a classical music festival, and the ISAF Sailing World Cup."
