Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) is taking the emirate’s SummerFest Abu Dhabi promotion direct to the GCC with road shows in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar running from June 9 - 13.

“We have a single, focussed aim,” said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director Promotions & Overseas Offices, TCA Abu Dhabi. “That is to ensure agents in the important GCC market are fully aware of our re-energised summer promotion and are incentivised to sell the destination.”

SummerFest Abu Dhabi - an upgrade of the emirate’s annual summer promotion - has been expanded into a 52-day extravaganza spanning mid-summer, the Holy Month of Ramadan, Eid Al Fitr and the destination’s traditional EidFest celebrations.

Running June 27 to August 17, SummerFest Abu Dhabi will revolve around a family-friendly hub of edutainment activities, world-class shows and exciting international performances spread over four action-packed halls at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), while an exciting line-up of Arabic concerts, dual-language comedy nights, theatre productions and celebrity-driven sport activations will also roll-out at du Forum on Yas Island.

“There is now much more to see and do in Abu Dhabi than ever before - a fact highlighted in our fantastic SummerFest Abu Dhabi line-up,” said Sultan Al Muhairi, Manager, SummerFest Abu Dhabi.

“We have a blockbuster calendar of amazing events and fun, family-friendly activities both at ADNEC and the du Forum on our entertainment destination of Yas Island. SummerFest Abu Dhabi is taking our seasonal push to the next level to ensure Abu Dhabi is the place to be for regional travellers over coming months,” he added.

Guests booking three nights at any of over 35 Abu Dhabi hotels during SummerFest Abu Dhabi, with the exception of Eid, will also get free entry tickets to the Ferrari World Abu Dhabi theme park and the award-winning Yas Waterworld, recently named the Middle East’s leading attraction by the World Travel Awards. Hotel guests will also receive free WiFi and kids under 12 will eat free.

“The offers will be distributed by wholesalers, GCC agents and hotel websites,” said Al Nuaimi. “Our top sellers stand the chance of winning trips to November’s F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.”

The GCC road show comes as the region continues to attract more Gulf visitors than ever before. In the first four months of this year, 57,343 Gulf nationals, excluding Emiratis, stayed in Abu Dhabi’s hotels – a 2% year-on-year increase. They delivered 129,161 guest nights – which was a lift of 4% - and stayed, on average, 2.27 nights.

“We are striving to build the length-of-stay and believe we now have the enhanced product to attract and retain regional visitors,” added Al Nuaimi.