Cases studies

Abu Dhabi Roadshow 2009 - How to create a successful trade event aimed at principal travel industry decision makers. France, Belgium and Switzerland - April 2009

• Agencies : Interface Tourism Belgium - Interface Tourism France
• Services : Events - Trade Development
• Clients : Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority

Brief

The Emirate was perceived as an abstract emerging destination which it might possibly be interesting to visit perhaps just once to see the mega projects being built (a 2015 perspective...). The first step in the promotion of this destination was to convince tour operators and to increase their expertise to make them more comfortable about selling the destination to their clientele. They are indeed the best ambassadors and are able to present the destination's attractions in a very concrete way.

After the success of Abu Dhabi’s first road show in October 2008 named “The Very Best Of Abu Dhabi”, the destination reedited the event in April 2009 with a new concept “Shining Abu Dhabi”.

Tactics

The global strategy was to present Abu Dhabi as THE emerging destination of the year.

Objective: to increase TO production and dynamic online packages, educate TA’s, encourage interest in meeting planners but above all, to share a special moment together thanks to an astonishing setup and a great atmosphere

• 3 cities: Paris, Brussels, Geneva
• Databases: selection of high-potential visitors amongst Leisure FIT’s and GIR’s, Tour Operator Product Managers, Incentive Houses Project Managers, Corporate Travel Managers , Travel Agents, Key Trade and specialized Consumer Media
• Selection of trendy and meaningful venues such as the Arabic World Institute in Paris
• Attractive personalisation of venues with Abu Dhabi branding
• Creation of names for the Events -  “The Best of Abu Dhabi” (2008), “Shining Abu Dhabi” (2009) with a special logo design used on e-invitations and final confirmations, a dedicated website for visitor e-registration and a satisfaction analysis. The design was used for destination presentation kits and give-aways.
• A large-scale communication plan promoted the event: advertising in the trade and MICE media and press releases and a press conference organised during each workshop
• A Press Conference organised before each workshop: more than 45 journalists attended
• An efficient workshop schedule to allow dedicated professional one to one meetings with different times for Press, Production and Distribution personnel
• TA and TO training sessions during the workshops

Result

• 290 travel professionals and 50 journalists attended the 2009 edition
• Excellent trade press coverage in the French, Belgian and Swiss trade media
• Increased production in TO winter brochures and "A la Carte" offers
• Confirmation of the destination's specific offers – the product is selling now to visitors with all sorts of different profiles!
• An analysis of the satisfaction survey showed that 80 % of guests found the workshop smart and friendly – 75 % of guests found the general organisation to be "good to very good" - 74 % of guests achieved good professional networking - 89 % of guests were "satisfied to very satisfied" by ADTA communication tools.