Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority is gearing up for a globe-trotting summer promotional tour designed to heighten international footfall at the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November.

Held in conjunction with Yas Marina Circuit, the venue for the November 2nd-4th spectacle, and Etihad Airways, the UAE’s national carrier and the event’s headline sponsor, the promotional tour will span seven countries.

All of these are currently among Abu Dhabi’s top 20 international source markets for the first five months of the year: the UK (1), Germany (3), Saudi Arabia (6), France (8), China (13), Australia (15) and Russia (20).

“Historically, one-in-five Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ticket-buyers have been non-UAE residents,” said Nick McElwee, director of sales and marketing, Yas Marina Circuit.

“This year, as part of collective efforts with key stakeholders to further build the event’s international profile, we have evolved our sales strategy to encompass wider destination marketing alongside generic race promotion.” 

Having ignited activations in Lorient, France, and Galway, Ireland, to coincide with the final two Volvo Ocean Race stopovers, the destination-themed tour also leverages motorsport-specific events, such as last week’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone (July 8th).

Plans are already in place to encompass several key Abu Dhabi sport sponsorships and dovetail a host of global events, including next week’s

Moscow City Racing festival in Russia, as well as Manchester City Football Club’s summer tour of Asia, for which TCA Abu Dhabi is the headline sponsor.

The English Premier League champions’ Far East tour involves a mouth-watering clash against domestic rivals, Arsenal, at the Olympic Stadium in Beijing, China, on July 27th, before a match against a Malaysian Allstars XI in Kuala Lumpur three days later.

China currently ranks as Abu Dhabi’s 13th largest international source market and TCA Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit and Etihad Airways, City’s principal sponsors, will collectively utilise significant brand placement opportunities to promote the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.