(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))
New Delhi, 3rd November, 2017 (WAM) – Pitching Abu Dhabi as a potential location for film-shooting by India's huge cinema industry, "Abu Dhabi Week" opened this evening in this nation's capital, the second Indian city to play host to a comprehensive effort by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, DCT, to promote tourism to the Emirate.
A tent-full audience of tour operators, travel industry leaders and the media lapped up audio-visual clips of the Hindi film, "Baby," at its recent location shooting in the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort in Abu Dhabi. The film, starring Bollywood heroes Akshay Kumar and Anupam Kher, also extensively features the Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi and an Etihad Airways' Airbus A380 in flight.
It was quickly clear at the pre-opening introduction to the New Delhi leg of Abu Dhabi Week that the idea of the UAE capital as a production location for Indian film producers had caught the imagination of Delhiites.
Bejan Dinshaw, Country Manager in India for the DCT, had to field several questions about the opportunities, incentives and facilities for location shooting in Abu Dhabi by film crews from India.
He explained the world class production and post-production services available to international cinema and television crews at "twofour54 Abu Dhabi," the emirate's fast-growing media free zone which has been adjudged for four consecutive years recently as either the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)'s "Studio of the Year" or as the "Post-Production House of the Year"
Dinshaw described twofour54 Abu Dhabi as a "one-stop-shop for film shooting," tailor-made for global film production.
Anood Khalifa, Head of the DCT Unit for Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States Region, hoped promotions like the Abu Dhabi Week will become regular events in Indian cities in future.
Expressing satisfaction that India is already the second largest international market in terms of hotel guests for Abu Dhabi, she predicted that the opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi on November 11 will greatly increase the Emirate's appeal as a cultural centre for tourists.
Ahmad Sultan Al Falahi, Commercial Attache at the UAE Embassy here, who cut the ribbon and inaugurated Abu Dhabi Week stressed the growing people-to-people interactions between India and the UAE.
He gave a new dimension to the Indian annual tourist inflow figure of two million into the UAE by pointing out that this only takes into account those who stay in hotels during their visit. "The actual figure would be quadruple" showing the potential of the Indian market.
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