The Abu Dhabi government's Department of Culture and Tourism has begun a week-long initiative in China in a bid to attract more tourists from the country to the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

The Abu Dhabi Week in China event began in Shanghai on Thursday and has involved meetings with some of China's biggest tour operators, trade officials and the media, according to a press release issued by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

It said that China is already the biggest international source market for hotel guests staying in Abu Dhabi, stating that the number of visitors from China increased by 68 percent in the first eight months of 2017 to 242,000.

In September last year, the UAE announced that it would grant visas on arrival to Chinese visitors from January 1 this year in a move which it said was being taken to boost tourism and trade, according to Reuters.

Representatives from Etihad Airways, the soon-to-open Louvre Abu Dhabi, Shekh Zayed Grand Mosque and Emirates Palace are taking part in the event

Saif Saeed Ghobash, director-general of Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism said in the press release that China "has now overtaken India as our largest international source market" for tourists and that it was actively seeking new business partners to encourage further growth. “We have an ambitious, yet realistic target of attracting 600,000 Chinese visitors a year by 2021,” he said.

Germano Rollero, General Manager - China for Etihad Airways said that it currently operates 28 flights per week between Abu Dhabi and four major hubs serving the Chinese market - Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hong Kong.

Abu Dhabi is attempting to promote itself as a destination for cultural tourism. Alongside the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi next month, the Department for Culture and Tourism also announced yesterday that it it is relaunching the Manarat Al Saadiyat building, which is close to the Louvre on Saadiyat Island.

Manarat Al Saadiyat opened in 2009 had previously been used as a gallery for exhibitions, but in a separate press statement yesterday to the Department for Culture & Tourism said it would be relaunched as a cultural centre offering "interactive initiatives and programmes focusing on art, design, music, film, innovation, and lifestyle".

Last month, the Department of Culture & Tourism said that the total number of visitors to the emirate during the first eight months reached 3.1 million. It said that more than 400,000 people stayed in hotels in August, which was a 13 percent year-on-year increase on August 2016.

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