Abu Dhabi will soon be promoted throughout Russia’s fast-growing outbound travel market after 11 of the country’s top tour operators gave the emirate their seal of approval following a three-day fact-finding visit.
Hosted by Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and Etihad Airways, the award-winning national airline of the UAE which operates a daily Moscow-Abu Dhabi flight, the 11 – all visiting the emirate for the first time – left with misconceptions righted and convinced of its selling appeal.
After touring Abu Dhabi city and taking in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Emirates Palace, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and the Yas Marina Circuit, the 11 visited a number of the UAE capital’s five-star hotels before moving on to the stunning surroundings of the Liwa desert to overnight at the luxurious Qasr Al Sarab (Mirage Palace) resort.
For Pavel Korotkov, Manager of SODIS a specialist, up-market outbound supplier, the trip proved a real eye-opener.
"Before coming to Abu Dhabi, my knowledge about it was not that positive. I thought it city had limited tourism attractions, entertainment, or hotels. Now I see it is a progressive emirate with big potential for luxury and business travel.
“I now have a clearer perspective on what Abu Dhabi has to offer and look forward to promoting it as a luxury travel destination. I have had the chance to learn about Abu Dhabi and change my opinion."
The emirate’s hallmark of retaining its past while embracing progression are characteristics Olga Markelova of Moscow-headquartered Art Tour, which operates 2000 branches throughout Russian and the CIS believes will resonate well in her home market.
“I feel that this emirate is really unique due to its heritage and cultural spirit, yet it is still modern and open to anybody who wishes to have quality and superb tourism facilities. It has appeal for corporate meetings as well as leisure. Promoting Abu Dhabi in Russia will be something really special and there are great opportunities to attract those who have never experienced this destination before.”
Alfia Adigamova, Supervisor of Space Travel admits to being surprised by Abu Dhabi’s diverse offering and its safe environment which she believes are its selling points.
"I’d heard about Abu Dhabi but thought that it an unattractive city with few facilities for fun, entertainment and leisure. But after these few productive days I think it has unbelievable products such as the Yas Marina Circuit, the Yas Hotel and Qasr Al Sarab. I’m sure that after a couple of years, this city will have even more state-of –the-art offerings for leisure and business tourists. We are now planning to promote Abu Dhabi throughout Russia as one of the safest and greatest cities for vacation or corporate travel."
ADTA has recently appointed a Country Manager for Russia and is gearing up to open a dedicated office-cum-destination visitor centre in Moscow.
"Russia has become an increasingly important market for us with Etihad bringing Russian tourists within just five hours flight time of Abu Dhabi. Russia is showing great promise for us with hotels in Abu Dhabi recording a 23% increase in guests from the country in the first 10 months of this year. We are now looking to capitalise on these green shoots of growth and will be mounting an intensive programme of inbound familiarisation trips for Russian travel trade and media. We are also embracing the Russian language across all of our marketing material and spearheading the recruitment and training of Russian-speaking tour guides to work in the emirate," said Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, ADTA.
