BIGGER
THAN EVER 23-DAY STOPOVER HUB OPEN TO PUBLIC FRIDAY
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Heralding the start of the VIP tour. Volvo
Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad shows Sultan Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director
Tourism, TCA Abu Dhabi and Omar Kaddoura, President & CEO, Rotana Group ,
into the Destination Village.
Abu Dhabi: Thursday, December 11, 2014 - Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu
Dhabi) today hosted a VIP preview tour of its purpose-built Volvo Ocean Race Destination Village on its
stunning Corniche Breakwater, which will open to the public tomorrow (Friday,
December 12).
The 35,000 square
metre, waterfront, village will be the hub of three weeks of sports,
entertainment and leisure as part of the UAE capital’s stopover hosting of the
hardy Volvo Ocean Race fleet, which is expected to arrive from the 6,125
nautical mile Leg 2 from Cape Town on Saturday December 13. The village is 30%
bigger than in 2011/2012 when Abu Dhabi last hosted the Volvo Ocean Race.
Ahead of the
tour, HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon, Chairman, TCA Abu Dhabi and Department of
Transport, Government of Abu Dhabi said he expected the UAE capital to be the
“stand-out” stopover of the race, which will visit nine stopover destinations
on its epic, round-the-world challenge which began in Alicante, Spain and ends
in Gothenburg, Sweden next June.
“This is a
destination in its own right for our residents and the many visitors we expect
in Abu Dhabi over the coming weeks and New Year,” said Sheikh Sultan. “It is
active, engaging, entertaining and provides something for all nationalities and
age groups.
“Naturally it is
compelling destination for sailing and watersports fans yet has many aspects
that will appeal to those who have never ventured out into the ocean. The
village has been created with the support of many key stakeholders who should
be congratulated on their efforts. Yet again, Abu Dhabi has shown how coming
together as one delivers excellence of product and I believe visitor feedback
will bear out this sentiment.
“The village is
also a headline promotion of our centuries-old maritime heritage with many
activities celebrating our sea-going past and showing how Abu Dhabi was, and
remains, at one with the sea.”
Today’s VIP tour
was led by Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad and attended by: Sultan Al
Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director Tourism, TCA Abu Dhabi; Majid Al Muhairi,
CEO Abu Dhabi Sailing & Yacht Club; Salem Al Romaithi, CEO, Abu Dhabi
International Marina Sports Club; Omar Kaddoura, President & CEO, Rotana
Group, the stopover hospitality sponsor, Abdulkareem M. Al Masabi, Vice
President – Port Operations, Abu Dhabi Ports Company; Major Ali Al Suwaidi,
President, Emirates Marine Environmental Group and Faisal Al Sheikh, Director,
Events Bureau, TCA Abu Dhabi.
Sailing fans from
around the world, race sponsors and families of the seven teams contesting the
gruelling, 38,739 nautical mile challenge are expected to descend on Abu Dhabi
over the coming weeks delivering a year-end boost to the UAE capital’s tourism
industry.
Boat operator
Xventures said Stopover demand for craft has been such that it has drafted
additional vessels into its fleet.
"We operate
a fleet of five boats in Abu Dhabi and would usually operate at about 75
percent capacity over the Festive period with certain days sold out but we have
had to bring in a number of additional boats to cover demand from the Stopover,
especially around race days,” said Tony
Hajj, CEO, Xventures, Abu Dhabi. “We’ve also seen an increase in uptake across
our other activities as the city attracts teams and their families as well as
additional international visitors, many of whom are staying for extended
periods this year.”
The Rotana Group
is also reporting strong response with an influx of race-related bookings.
“Such initiatives
are extremely important and give this great destination tremendous worldwide
exposure. We truly believe Abu Dhabi is the ideal destination to host such
events and are ready to welcome thousands of race guests to our properties,”
said Rotana President & CEO, Omer Kaddouri.
“Rotana has
extended its full marketing support via of customers and ‘Rotana Rewards’
members through branding, advertising, and digital signage in over 50 Rotana
properties across the region. The event has boosted occupancy and served us
well during the festive season. Rotana will host thousands of executives,
teams, crews, spectators and tourists travelling from around the globe, over
six weeks in December and January and will receive over 3,000 room nights in
its properties in Abu Dhabi during the Stopover.”
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| Music, the sea and tradition meet at the Destination Village |
The free-to-enter
Destination Village has six distinctive and interactive zones covering: culture
& heritage; adventure; family; exhibitions; team and haul out and the
environment.
“We’ve increased
the village opening hours by 25% after visitor feedback from our 2011/2012
hosting,” explained Sultan Al Dhaheri. “In all the village will be open to the public
for 225 hours, which is equivalent to almost nine and a half days and it will
bring a heightened dimension to festive and New Year seasonal celebrations
here.”
Abu Dhabi’s VOR
Destination Village features 22 exhibition pavilions for visitors to tour,
including five international pavilions from China, Sweden, Spain, the
Netherlands and Great Britain.
“Each of our
international pavilion partners will be promoting their own destination and
cultural attractions,” said Al Dhaheri. “Their presence underlines the
importance of this market to these respective countries.”
The village also
features, for the first time, a 440 metre ‘floating’ Skyline Stage which will
host live concert and solo performance by a range of international musicians
and personalities as well as regular ‘Cinema Al Mamsha’ (Boardwalk Cinema)
screenings of popular movies and regional premieres.
The Skyline Stage
has been built into the sea bed off the Corniche by a team of 13 commercial
divers with over six tons of underwater ballast.
The opening
Skyline Stage performance will be on Friday night when the celebrated BBC
Worldwide production ‘Blue Planet In Concert’ will be screened to music
conducted by five-times Oscar-nominated composer George Fenton and performed by
the 75-piece National Symphony Orchestra Abu Dhabi. The performance will run
for a second night on Saturday and tickets are available from
timeouttickets.com.
Over the coming
three weeks the Destination Village will host stage performances and
appearances by over 200 artists from 23 countries including Lebanese singing
sensation Myriam Fares, Argentinian guitar maestro Dominic Miller, French
marine adventurer Fabian Cousteau, the City of Birmingham Philharmonic
Orchestra, Grammy nominee Kamal Massalam and Madrid’s renowned ‘El Corral de la
Moreria’ flamenco troupe.
“In addition, contributions from over 80
traditional artisans, musicians and chefs feature in the Destination Village
programme thanks to partnerships with cultural stakeholders, such as the
Khalifa Fund, Abu Dhabi Falconers Club and Soqur Al Mqbeel,” explained Al
Dhaheri.
“The community has responded enthusiastically
to the village with over 7,500 man hours being contributed by 220 volunteers
working during the 23 day stopover.”
The village will
also host, for the first time in public, the model of the UAE capital’s planned
Mina Zayed permanent cruise terminal in a pavilion, mounted by Abu Dhabi Ports
Company, where visitors can enter a contest for a chance to win a US $1,000
voucher towards a Royal Caribbean International cruise.
The village opens
daily from 12 noon to 9pm Sunday-Thursday and 11am to midnight Fridays and
Saturdays until January 3rd when the fleet leaves on the third leg
of the race to Sanya in China.
Aside from the ongoing activities and entertainment, village-goers will be able to buy refreshments from 12 cafes and restaurants spread throughout the venue including themed stalls serving shawarmas, Arabic sweets, European, Asian and Mexican cuisine. A special ‘show kitchen’ is at the heart of the ‘Galley’ area and features live cooking demonstrations from professional Spanish, French, South African, Swedish and Emirati chefs.
TCA Abu Dhabi, which is behind the emirate’s VOR campaign is using the event to highlight Abu Dhabi’s swelling sailing and watersport credentials.
“We have it all,” said Al Dhaheri. “Fabulous active marinas, superb winter weather, first-class watersports suppliers, clean seas and generally ambient prevailing winds.
“At this particular event the outdoor life will be in prime focus with over 150 hours of watersport and beach sport events involving upwards of 1,500 people from UAE schools, rugby and soccer clubs, sailing, paddling and fitness clubs. If you live here, there’s no reason to stay indoors at this time of year – and if you live elsewhere and want to escape grey skies – this is the place to be.”
The packed
destination village programme is available on www.abudhabievents.ae and www.volvooceanraceabudhabi.ae. Highlights
include the December 14/15 fleet arrivals, the January 2nd in-port
race and the January 3rd race restart.
“All will be
marked by distinctive, culturally-slanted parades and celebrations which we
want everyone to see and enjoy,” said Al Dhaheri.
Meanwhile, from
December 15, Destination Village goers will be able to visit ‘The Boatyard’ and
get bird’s eye views of the competing Volvo Ocean 65 yachts including ‘Azzam’
(Determination) of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) – the emirate’s own entry. A
public viewing platform, built eight metres above ground, will allow visitors
to watch shore teams as they work to prepare their vessels for Leg 3.
A series of ‘Meet
The Crews’ sessions are also being planned so the public can get
up-close-and-personal with the VOR ‘Heroes Of The Seas.’
More photos of the event:
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