UAE > Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

It's with great excitement that this edition of Seyaha brings news of a magnificent achievement for Abu Dhabi on a global scale. Our Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team's clean sweep of all major competitions in the round-the-world 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race heralds a new beginning. By placing Abu Dhabi at the heart of the Arabian Gulfs watersports proposition, we have an opportunity to reflect a maritime destination built on modern-day success and an innate sea-faring tradition.

Over the nine gruelling months, we've watched the crew toil in often punishing conditions as they tackled some of the world's toughest oceans with a degree of determination befitting the 'Azzam' moniker - meaning determination in Arabic - after which their boat was named.

We have seen the crew fly the flag for Abu Dhabi, and raise awareness of our destination to a global audience. All eyes were on Abu Dhabi during the hosting, in December and January, of the Abu Dhabi stopover overlooking our stunning Corniche beachfront.

Testament to Abu Dhabi's appeal was the success of this Destination Village - over 150,000 visitors were drawn to enjoy the entertainment and sample the array of water sports available throughout the emirate.

In that time we have also seen our destination grow. Visitor numbers are up by 20% over the previous year, prompting us to revise our 2015 target upward to 3.9 million. New visitor patterns are emerging. Visitors from China so far this year are booming, and we continue to see strong growth from Australia, Brazil, the USA and key European nations.

It is no coincidence that Azzam's journey included all of these as ports of call. And it is through efforts such as the Volvo Ocean Race that we now have an opportunity to progress our water sports tourism ambitions, and introduce other thematic campaigns for cruise, golf and halal tourism through concerted strategic destination promotion activity in our eleven primary overseas markets.

With our major event season on the horizon, the prospects look good for another record breaking year. The waters ahead look calm and inviting.

THE BURGEONING offerings on Abu Dhabi's cultural focal point of Saadiyat Island are set to expand even further, after Rotana Hotels and Bloom Holdings teamed up for a new project.

Abu Dhabi-based developer Bloom Holdings recently launched a new mixed-use development on the 'Island of Happiness', where the Louvre Abu Dhabi is scheduled to open in Q4, 2015. The project, named Park View, will comprise a residential and a hotel apartment building, with Rotana Hotel Management now confirmed as operator for its 188-key hotel apartments section.

The home-grown group's five-star Saadiyat Rotana Resort, consisting of 354 rooms and suites, 13 private beach villas, a variety of food & beverage, meeting and conference facilities, 'Zen the spa' and fully-equipped Bodylines health & fitness club is also currently under construction on Saadiyat Beach.