(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A 16-strong delegation from Abu Dhabi's tourism industry is heading to Russia's top travel show this week as the destination looks to building or rising hotel guest arrivals from the federation.
The Leisure Moscow delegation, headed by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, or TCA Abu Dhabi, includes hotels and resorts, Etihad Airways, inbound tour operators and destination management companies.
The move comes as TCA Abu Dhabi figures show a significant rise in the number of Russians staying in the emirate's hotels and resorts.
In the first seven months of this year, some 10,061 Russians checked into Abu Dhabi's hotels and resorts - a 38 per cent rise on the same period last year - and together they accounted for some 58,114 guest nights - a rise of 42 per cent over the same comparative period.
"Russia is an increasingly important market for Abu Dhabi with the country now entered our Top 20 ranking of our most productive overseas sources," said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, international promotions manager at TCA Abu Dhabi.
"An increasing number of Mice and business travel companies are including more UAE possibilities in their brochures and packages - our aim is to ensure Abu Dhabi features among them."
"Further evidence of Russian interest in Abu Dhabi has come from the relaunch of our visitabudhabi.ae consumer website last June. Since then the site has received double the number of Russian visitors compared to the whole of last year. Site visits from Russia are currently averaging in excess of 12,500 per month, with the majority emanating from Moscow."
Russians' air access to Abu Dhabi has eased during the last seven months with Etihad Airways flying daily from Moscow and the country's first private carrier, TransAero initiating twice-weekly, non-stop flights for tour operator bookings to Abu Dhabi.
The visit is among a number of initiatives TCA Abu Dhabi is undertaking this month to stimulate increased response from the Russian and CIS markets. Others include road shows in Kiev, Ukraine, and Almaty, Kazakhstan.
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