New Abu Dhabi fund to propel investments in events sector
The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has announced a new ‘mega events fund’ to enhance the city's portfolio of leisure and business events and to attract global event organisers.
The Dh600 million ($163.3 million) fund is part of the Ghadan 21 programme, which seeks to accelerate Abu Dhabi’s economy and make it a preferred destination for people to do business, invest, live, work and visit.
The new financial stimulus will focus exclusively on the development of major entertainment and business activities and festivals in the emirate, said a statement from DCT Abu Dhabi.
Saif Saeed Ghobash, undersecretary of DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “Launching this initiative gives Abu Dhabi new strategic momentum to enhance its local and regional presence. This initiative will work to attract the best entertainment and business event organisers from across the world to consider Abu Dhabi as a place to invest their time and efforts."
The new fund will work hand-in-hand with the Advantage Abu Dhabi programme, an additional DCT Abu Dhabi incentive grant scheme which has already scored major successes in stimulating the events sector in Abu Dhabi.
The latest fund will provide multi-purpose financing, including encouraging potential global entertainment partners to anchor leading entertainment content in Abu Dhabi, helping upscale and innovate existing best-in-class events in the UAE, encouraging leading global entertainment companies and event owners from the region to consider Abu Dhabi as the go-to location to stage events, and helping support innovation in the event and thought leadership sectors.
The new funded projects, in addition to their relevant initiatives, are expected to increase overseas visitation metrics and further support businesses in the events industry, ultimately yielding an expected economic impact of around Dh1.6 billion ($435.5 million). The funded activities are also expected to return as annual events to the UAE capital.
DCT Abu Dhabi has already identified several potential partners and beneficiaries for the new fund, including global companies, promoters and touring acts that could potentially make Abu Dhabi their base of operations.
A number of local partners including Miral, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Live Nation International, Informa Middle East, Flash Entertainment, IMG International and other event promotors have expressed interest in partnering with the fund, the statement said.
In 2018, Abu Dhabi’s events calendar helped achieve a new record in terms of the number of visitors and hotel guests coming to the emirate, with more than 10 million international visitors arriving in Abu Dhabi and a 3.94 per cent increase reported in the number of hotel guests – compared to 2017. This growth can be attributed to an increased investment in key markets, which this latest fund hopes to build upon in the next three years, it said. - TradeArabia News Service