Continuing ADNEC’s legacy in the formation of Tourism 365

Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Group CEO, Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company

After the last 18 months, a wise man would be careful not to be too specific in predictions about the future. So I won’t say leisure travel will enter a boom period in the next three months, the next year or even the next couple of years.

But a boom period is coming.

Around the world there is huge pent-up demand for all the joy that holiday travel brings us: the joy of the new; the joy of exciting experiences; the joy of safe, family time together. (And of course, the joy of guaranteed beautiful weather always helps!).

To meet that demand, destinations really need to stand out in what will become a period of intense competition in the tourism sector.

That’s where our newest venture, Tourism 365, comes in.

ADNEC has always been committed to the development of business tourism in Abu Dhabi. Since our foundation in 2005, we have created thousands of jobs, generated billions of dirhams in economic impact, and bolstered the emirate’s hospitality industry. Our company has been a long-term supporter and enabler of Abu Dhabi’s wider tourism sector and infrastructure. We are consistently proud of that legacy.

Now we are building on that legacy with a leisure tourism-focused offer.  ADNEC is bringing its crafted expertise and experience, built over decades, to the benefit of the wider tourism ecosystem in the UAE.

We are doing this in co-ordination with a wide range of stakeholders, chief among them the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi. In enhancing Abu Dhabi’s tourism sector, co-operation between key stakeholders is critical. Through our collaboration with these central entities, ADNEC will be ensuring that we provide tourists with a coherent offer of what our emirate has to offer.

Tourism 365 is currently formed of two subsidiaries: Capital Experience, a high-quality destination management company, and Capital Travel, a premium travel operator. In addition to this, Tourism 365 will be partnering with international Tour Operators TOs. By delivering luxury travel experiences to tourists heading to the UAE’s capital, ADNEC will be contributing to Abu Dhabi’s vibrant tourism ecosystem, bringing significant returns on investment to the emirate.

ADNEC has long championed the power of diversification as a way to grow our business. We have successfully launched subsidiaries in the catering, hospitality, logistics, and events services, each providing tourists and visitors to Abu Dhabi with a premium experience of what our city has to offer. The decision to form Tourism 365 has been informed by our track record of successful tourism management, made noticeable by the seven hotels under ADNEC’s ownership, including the luxury hotels, Anantara Qasr Al Sarab Resort and the Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island.

We have also built a wide range of business continuity strategies to ensure that our company could provide support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the vision of the UAE’s astute leadership, coupled with our extensive mitigation strategies, ADNEC was able to be a pillar during the pandemic for the wider Abu Dhabi community in providing testing and vaccination centres. We then successfully staged the world’s first mega-event following the pandemic: the International Defence Exhibition and the Naval Defence Exhibition, held in February 2021.

Now we are bringing that same initiative and resolve to Tourism 365.

I will risk three firm predictions for the year ahead.  

The first is that Tourism 365 will exemplify one of the things that Abu Dhabi does best: people, businesses and government working together towards common goals. We will help develop our tourism offer even further as a compelling choice for travellers from across the world.

The second is that when that boom starts (and for the record, I think it will be sooner rather than later), we will be ready. 

Third, and most important, we can guarantee one additional joy for those holiday travellers: the joy of a traditional Abu Dhabi welcome.