Gulf Today, Jul 31, 2022 | Muharram 02, 1444
Forum set to highlight region’s key attractions and destinations
To support countries in the Mena region rethinking their strategies and
implementing new plans for reopening existing destinations and attractions in a
safe and sustainable manner post the pandemic slowdown, Mena Attractions &
Destinations Forum 2022 will be held on 28th and 29th September, 2022 in Dubai,
UAE to explore upcoming cultural and leisure projects and ways to drive growth
for the tourism sector.
The interactive forum will host over 300 international and regional stakeholders
from key sectors, including governments, tourism agencies and consultancies,
hotel chains, park owners and operators, museums, culture and heritage site
authorities, technology and solution providers, and investment institutions.
With several global heritage and religious sites, modern attractions, and
leisure destinations, over 50 million tourists visit the region every year.
The Mena region has received a growing inflow of tourists driving growth in
attractions and destinations. However, some key challenges still hinder the
region from capitalising on the industry’s full potential, especially with the
changing demographics, infrastructure, weather conditions, and technology
developments.
The forum will also focus on developing and rebranding destinations that cater
to a diverse population, current innovative family entertainment and edutainment
that meets visitor requirement, converting heritage sites into new attractions
to cater to different population segments and capitalising on live entertainment
to increase visitors.
Osama Khlawee, AVP Tourism Sites and Destination Development Leader, said,
“Developing destinations entails planning defined areas to drive the evolution
of vibrant destinations for tourists, ensuring compelling experiences,
diversified tourism offerings, quality infrastructure, and services to attract
people to live, work, and return to the destination. Taking full account of its
current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the
needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities assuring
proper management as well as marketing which are especially significant for
destinations to attract fresh investments, develop value-added jobs, recruit new
talent, and boost innovation.” Richard Krent, Director for Development, Qiddiya,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said, “Destination Development requires an intensity of
creative artistry with a sense of joy that connects with its audience.”
Participants will learn about museums and heritage site developments in the Mena
region, how to drive innovations in theme parks and water parks and get familiar
with projects related to extreme sports and theme parks.
The jam-packed two-day agenda will feature a series of sessions by speakers from
entities like the World Tourism Association, tourism ministries, cultural
ministries and projects, Entertainment project developers and more who will be
addressing key industry topics.
The session on modernising the region’s attractions and destinations will
feature experts talking about expanding and upgrading existing facilities and
sites to increase their capacity and attractiveness to tourists, how to convert
temporary facilities into permanent entertainment zone and understand the role
of travel agencies in driving attendance to the region’s destinations.
Speakers will also talk about enhancing the visitor experience in the region’s
destinations and the role of eco-tourism in sustainable development projects.
The two-day event is organised and promoted by GM Events, a Dubai-based
multi-faceted event management company of international repute, having organised
numerous successful forums and exhibitions for different industries across the
Mena region.
The UAE tourism sector has performed well in the first half of the 2022. All the
big attractions and destinations in the country have received a very large
numbers of global and domestic tourists.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi has received 1,520,697 guests including
454,339 worshippers and about 1,033,045 visitors during the first half of 2022.
Around 19% of the visitors were from the UAE, and 81% were tourists. To
elaborate, 51% of the visitors were male, 49% were female, and the majority were
aged between 25 to 35 years, constituting 32% of the total worshippers and
visitors who flocked to the mosque worldwide.
Visitors from India lead the top three countries visiting the mosque, followed
by France and the USA. During the year’s first half, the number of those using
the mosque’s jogging trail reached more than 33,000 users.
WAM