New Abu Dhabi website to guide Centre's event user
- MICEBTN Archive Stories Issue 29
- Thursday, 20 September 2007
A NEW website has been launched by Abu Dhabi Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) as part of a major investment in the company’s online marketing activities.
The multi-language website — www.adnec.ae — has been developed to give users clear and comprehensive information on visiting, exhibiting, or organising events at the new state-of-the-art Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
The website is split into core sections to cater for the different needs of the exhibition market. Visitors will see detained pages on the facilities of ADNEC, exhibitors will be able to view a guide to exhibiting at the exhibition centre and organisers will be able to access detailed technical information on facilities and services offered at the exhibition centre.
The website also holds detailed information on Abu Dhabi and the UAE, targeted at international visitors, as well as a dedicated Press and Media section, including an innovative new ‘webmasters’ area.
The website has been built to be both user and search engine friendly, with pages designed to appear as high as possible in search engines’ listings. Additionally, the website has been built to adhere to internationally accepted standards of access for the visually impaired, despite these standards not currently being law in the UAE.
Stage one of Abu Dhabi’s new Exhibition Centre was officially opened last February, with the venue already staging 12 major international exhibitions and welcoming more than 250,000 visitors from more than 100 countries.
ADNEC recently began work on stage two, with work scheduled for completion in autumn 2008. When completed, the venue will be the largest exhibition centre in the Middle East, with exhibition floor space of more than 55,000sqm.
Meanwhile, a 30 per cent increase in visitor numbers is expected at next year’s Gulf Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (GIBTM), which will be staged at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from April 8-10.
New elements unveiled for the event include a move to new halls, more exhibitors on the show floor, a ‘Technology and Event Services Village’ and a ‘European Pavilion’ that will incorporate the best in convention bureaus, NTOs conference venues and convention hotels.
In line with the increase in exhibitors, GIBTM plans to recruit 30 per cent more hosted buyers with 275 (215 in 2007) from the Gulf, Middle East, Europe and Asia. A rise in visitor numbers is also expected due to the high profile marketing and PR campaign planned for the region.
