Building Resilient MICE Destinations

In our Backstage Leadership Conversations podcast series, in collaboration with?Abu Dhabi's Culture and Tourism Department , we explore the post-pandemic trends in business travel, focusing on key areas such as technology, impact, sustainability and recovery. Learn how Abu Dhabi is helping the MICE sector to thrive.

For this series, we went backstage at?Abu Dhabi Business Events Week ?and had engaging discussions with a range of interesting leaders from across the sector to understand more about the shifts and trends they have witnessed in their work. We heard a range of different perspectives and talked about how everybody can collectively come together to reinforce Abu Dhabi's very competitive positioning and continue to help the MICE sector thrive as a more competitive, exciting and innovative industry as we come out of the pandemic.

Nick Hall

In the second episode, we dive into how you can excel during times of disruption through adaptability with Taghrid Al Saeed, the Executive Director of Group Communications and Destination Marketing at?Miral . Taghrid is pivotal in bolstering Miral's overall integrated marketing communications framework, encompassing destination awareness, strategic direction and hospitality business partnerships. She oversees the creation and development of Miral's brand assets for local, regional and global campaigns as the company continues to cut through the competitive international marketplace. Under Taghrid's leadership, Miral's marketing department has achieved significant milestones, including entering a key partnership with?Abu Dhabi's Convention and Exhibition Bureau? to strengthen the emirate's position as a destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.

Miral's core vision is driven by a commitment to Abu Dhabi's continued growth. Through their transformative and innovative projects, they aim to contribute to Abu Dhabi's long-term development as a sustainable, diversified and globally integrated economy.

For the past few years, we have observed how adaptability has become a key quality for organisations and markets to thrive and become more competitive. With Miral being based in Abu Dhabi, I wanted to explore with Taghrid how the city has adapted to the constant disruptions that the tourism industry has experienced in recent times and how they've incorporated adaptability within their own business.

Taghrid Al Saeed

From the early stages of the pandemic, Abu Dhabi's government has planned, designed, and executed one of the most effective strategies to safeguard the safety of everyone while ensuring business continuity. Abu Dhabi was recognised as the world's top pandemic-resilient city by?Deep Knowledge Analytics . One of the results that I can talk about is the recent announcement of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) becoming the first major country to fully recover its tourism industry to the levels prevailing in 2019. The UAE tourism revenues exceeded 19 billion dirhams in the first half of 2022, which is more than in the corresponding period of 2019.

During the 2022 summer season,?Yas Island ?had an increased number of visitors, with a 90% recovery of international visitor numbers across all its award-winning theme parks compared to pre-pandemic figures. There was also a record-breaking hotel occupancy level during Eid al-Adha, reaching 90%.?Warner Brothers Hotel ?even hit 100% occupancy a couple of times during the summer.

Nick Hall

Hearing about the recovery that Abu Dhabi's tourism industry is experiencing was impressive, demonstrating that they seem to be doing the right thing when it comes to adapting to disruptions in a timely manner. With this understanding of their recovery, I wanted to get Taghrid's thoughts on where Abu Dhabi excels as a leisure and MICE destination.

Additionally, as a key takeaway from my?discussion with Mubarak Al Shamsi , I understood that there really are some truly ambitious plans in place to grow Abu Dhabi's competitive position as a destination. I wanted to hear from Taghrid how Miral's strategies play into this.

Taghrid Al Saeed

While recent years have seen an increased emphasis on leisure and culture tourism in Abu Dhabi, the?Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 ?identified the business tourism segment as a major contributor for the drive to accelerate a diversified economy. Abu Dhabi has long been a venue for high-level meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. Abu Dhabi was also named the Middle East Leading Business Travel Destination at the 2019, 2021 and 2022?World Travel Awards . Earlier in 2022, to contribute to Abu Dhabi's vision of establishing the emirate as one of the world's leading tourism hubs, Miral signed a strategic agreement with the Department of Culture and Tourism and Abu Dhabi's Convention and Exhibition Bureau to further attract both local and international business stakeholders to Yas Island.

Nick Hall

One of the key topics during Abu Dhabi Business Events Week was the need for cooperation and establishing key partnerships between private and public stakeholders in the destination. During the event, we learned that a considerable number of partnerships that exist within the Gulf region are thanks to the emphasis that has been put on cooperation, resulting in many new strategic initiatives. These allow event organisers to identify the benefits of a well-connected destination in terms of reaching better agreements in a faster manner.

Considering this, I wanted to get Taghrid's view on what the growth of the tourism industry in Abu Dhabi looks like in light of the significant investment in development carried out by both public and private stakeholders in the region.

Taghrid Al Saeed

The tourism industry witnessed a revival in 2022, with substantial growth in incoming tourism to Abu Dhabi and the UAE. During Q1 and Q2 of 2022, the UAE's tourism industry saw the return of inbound tourism flows from foreign markets as hotel establishments in various emirates hosted nearly 4 million international tourists, with India, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Russia and the US being the leading source markets.

The UAE economy grew by 8.4% in the first quarter of 2022, exceeding the initial estimates. This came as the economy rebounded strongly on the back of tourism and the property sector. The diversity of the tourism proposition in the UAE, and specifically on Yas Island, has contributed to an increased appetite for travel, coupled with new attractions, enhanced experiences and excellent precautionary measures. Miral projects in the next decades will be rooted in fostering evolved guest experiences underscored by our commitment to advancing the tourism ecosystem.

Nick Hall

With Taghrid's insights, it's clear that constant evolution is key and the ability to adapt has become a critical component for organisations in order to thrive in times of constant disruption. This leads us to reflect on this from different perspectives, considering both the technological and economic points of view. Adapting to new developments in the market and seizing opportunities when they exist is absolutely pivotal to our success. How has the industry in Abu Dhabi been able to react to the disruptions seen over the last couple of years and how are they ensuring their readiness against future challenges?

Taghrid Al Saeed

The past few years have taught us a lot, especially about agility and innovation. We learned early on that many of our long-term plans had to be expedited. Today, we have reimagined and evolved to deliver an integrated and hyper-personalised visitor experience with customers at the heart of our business.

In 2021 and in response to the pandemic, we launched?FacePass , a cutting-edge, contactless technology that utilises facial recognition for seamless guest experiences. We have also seen the importance of data and launched our decision analytics strategy:?The Noor Initiative . This initiative aims to enhance the company's investment in predictive data analytics and integrate innovation across our operations, which in turn will enhance Abu Dhabi's position as a data-driven city.

Nick Hall

It's clear that Miral has strived to embrace new technologies as a core competitive factor in its growth. In Abu Dhabi, we've seen a large number of new opportunities, which centre on the creation of seamless experiences, enhanced by the interconnectivity of digital touchpoints within the destination. I asked Taghrid if she could highlight one aspect that has resulted in the ability of the region to adapt to the disruptions we've seen over the last few years that led to the destination excelling as it recovers.

Taghrid Al Saeed

The tourism industry is constantly evolving and growing and rapid shifts are always key factors in the business. That is why it's critical to stay ahead. One of the most important aspects for the tourism sector - and specifically in MICE tourism - is investing in innovation and digital solutions. We believe that innovation and digital transformation is key to creating more compelling visitor propositions. Our commitment to innovation is in line with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, which includes innovation at its core and aims to embrace innovative technology across the emirate.

Nick Hall

From my conversation with Taghrid, I was able to get a much better understanding of how Abu Dhabi's tourism industry and the MICE sector are excelling after the challenges faced in the past few years. Having the strong adaptability and strategies in place to seize new opportunities and recover makes them one of the leading destinations globally when it comes to both leisure and MICE.

I was able to get an overview of the many developments that are taking place in the destination, increasing its attractiveness and competitiveness as well as making the destination a key proposition for many different tourism segments who choose to visit Abu Dhabi.

Conclusion

With rapid shifts occurring across the world, it's important for destinations to stay ahead of the curve and quickly adapt to changing circumstances. In order to do so, accelerating long-term plans enables innovation to continuously shape and improve destination offerings. In light of the disruption caused by COVID, enacting strong health protocols enabled businesses to continue operating. Consequently, Abu Dhabi was able to garner a strong reputation as a safe and resilient destination, creating new business opportunities. This significantly aided the quick recovery in international tourism and the economic contribution this provides.

Excelling in times of disruption is also supported by having a diversity of attractions and experiences for visitors. Regular investment in destination development boosts travel demand, with innovation central to economic growth strategies and improving destination appeal, especially for returning visitors.

Digital transformation is an increasingly significant element in building resiliency, with predictive data analytics streamlining the efficiency of organisational operations. Additionally, technology can enhance guest experiences and help drive seamless travel, eliminating consumer pain points and improving tourist satisfaction.