The Louvre and a Guggenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi? And a Formula 1 Grand Prix in 2009? That's just the tip of the iceberg, writes Stanley Carvalho
The $30 billion cultural district that is being built on Saadiyat Island and the $40 billion Yas Island development in this oil-rich capital of the UAE will house - besides the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim - a national museum, a maritime museum, performing arts centres, art galleries, golf courses, polo fields and much more. What Abu Dhabi is seeking to create is a cultural and sporting oasis in the desert, with the focus being on cultural tourism as opposed to mass tourism, in tandem with the larger aim of diversifying its economy.
"Our aim is not to make Abu Dhabi a destination for mass tourism - our aim is to make Abu Dhabi a high-end tourist destination," asserts HH Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of the government-owned Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA). Interestingly, ADTA's role is not just promoting tourism in the emirate. Its role is also to create a one-stop-shop for developers. "Our mission is to act as the catalyst in mobilising private sector investment into the tourism sector, entering into partnerships and putting together investors' packages," says Sheikh Sultan.
In the last two years, ADTA has accelerated its international positioning and promotion of the destination in major European source markets. "Our target is to increase annual visitor arrivals by an average of 15 per cent per annum to reach a target of three million arrivals per year by 2015," he adds. Abu Dhabi's ambitious tourism plans will take shape in its many natural islands with an equally ambitious airline, Etihad Airways, which is expanding its fleet and network rapidly.
One of the flagship projects in this transformation is the development of Saadiyat Island, situated 500 metres to the north-east of Abu Dhabi city. The Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), the development arm of ADTA, is responsible for the infrastructure of the island. March 2007 saw a number of far-reaching initiatives taking shape that are likely to change the face of Abu Dhabi and help the emirate realise its dreams of positioning itself as a prominent tourist destination.
Appreciating arts
In early March, the governments of Abu Dhabi and France entered into an unprecedented 30-year cultural accord that will see the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum created within Saadiyat Island. French architect Jean Nouvel is to design the Dhs1 billion ($272 million) dome-shaped Louvre Abu Dhabi museum that will cover an area of 24,000 square metres and include 6,000 square metres of permanent gallery space when it is completed in 2012. It is the second major international museum to sign up for Saadiyat after the Guggenheim. The cultural city will eventually comprise five museums and a park.
Not surprisingly, Abu Dhabi will donate 25 million ($33 million) to renovate a wing in the Paris Louvre, which will be named after the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The emirate will also contribute to the establishment of an art research centre in Paris. What's more, the opportunity provides for long-term loans from the Louvre and major French museums such as the Muse du Quai Branley, Centre Georges Pompidou, Muse d'Orsay, Versailles, Guimet, Rodin and the Runion des Muses Nationaux.
Temporary exhibitions will also be organised annually in the Louvre Abu Dhabi and will be included in the programme of international exhibitions exchanged between major museums worldwide. This agreement ensures French museum expertise will assist with the acquisition over the next decade of an Abu Dhabi art collection. This support will also facilitate the development of educational programmes and specialised art conferences that will be held in Abu Dhabi, aimed at inspiring and developing the next generation of cultural leaders.
"By choosing the Louvre, the emirate of Abu Dhabi not only sealed a partnership with the world's most visited and well-known museum, but selected one which, from its very inception, had a vocation to reach out to the world, to the essence of mankind, through the contemplation of works of art," commented French President Jacques Chirac.
"The Louvre Abu Dhabi will empower a new era of international cultural co-operation," said His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Executive Council. "In the long-term, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will become autonomous. It will be a national, regional and international asset allowing all to fully participate in an interconnected global cultural understanding."
On the fast track
Meanwhile, the $40 billion Yas Island will have a Ferrari theme park and driving school (Abu Dhabi owns 5 per cent of Ferrari through Mubadala), a racetrack winding its way around the island, water parks, a dozen hotels, four polo fields, a golf course, and a Formula 1 racing team. In February this year, Abu Dhabi formally signed a deal that gives it rights to host the Formula 1 from 2009, catapulting the emirate onto the global sporting stage.
"A Formula 1 Grand Prix is one of the world's most prestigious sporting events, in the same category as the Olympic Games or the World Cup, and is unrivalled in terms of continuous global resonance," said Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. "That is why this new partnership is such an exciting one for Abu Dhabi and the entire UAE."
To capitalise on the growing interest in the tourism sector, the TDIC is spearheading the development of hotel properties by the private sector, having identified more than 15 plots for development by local investors. The most advanced is Al Jaber Group's Dhs800 million ($218 million) project, which will be managed by the Shangri-La Group and is scheduled for completion in February 2008.
"In 2004, when we did our survey, we had about 8,500 rooms; we now have in the region of 10,000," says Mubarak Al Muhairy, Director-General of the ADTA. "We want that number increased to 25,000 rooms in 2015. If there is a limitation, it will be construction and contractors." The TDIC has signed an agreement with the local Al Masaood Group to redevelop Abu Dhabi's tourist club area and the Al Mazrui Group to develop a Dhs1.4 billion ($381 million) beach resort with a hotel, office-cum-residential towers and other amenities.
The TDIC signed last year's agreements with three other local companies - Al Jaber Group, Al Fahim Group and Rotana Hotels - to build hotels in the capital. In addition, the TDIC is developing its own resort that will be operated by Angsana Resorts and Spa, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts. Also, Dubai-based Jumeirah is understood to have signed a memorandum of understanding with a private developer for a mixed-use hotel development close to the capital's InterContinental Hotel. The project will be Jumeirah's first in Abu Dhabi.
The TDIC is also to build a luxury five-star Arabian retreat - Qasr Al Sarab - at the emirate's Liwa desert in the Empty Quarter (Rub Al Khali). "Today, Liwa desert attracts many visitors and has become a much desired tourist destination, not only to be travelled across by those with nomadic aspirations, but also as a special place to spend time and experience," says Sheikh Sultan. "This will be a signature destination in Abu Dhabi's expanding and rapidly diversified tourism offering. It brings an added dimension in the breadth of product appeal."
Performance staging
The staging of the inaugural Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition (GIBTM) in Abu Dhabi in March gave a further boost to the capital's meetings and conventions sector. In fact, Abu Dhabi has been tipped as one of the Gulf's high fliers over the coming year for the lucrative meetings industry, according to GIBTM research, which pegs Abu Dhabi as the region's second top meetings industry performer over the coming 12 months - having soared into the top five destinations for the first time.
"If you look at the way ADTA has promoted itself over the last 12 months and created increased awareness of Abu Dhabi, these results will come as no surprise," notes Paul Kennedy MBE, Group Exhibition Director, Meetings and Incentive Events, Reed Travel Exhibitions, which organised the GIBTM. Al Muhairy points out tourist arrivals totalled 1.347 million in 2006, generating revenues of Dhs8.7 billion ($2.37 billion) for the emirate's economy.
"Tourism contributed about 7 per cent to Abu Dhabi's non-oil GDP last year. We want to take it further to over 10 per cent by 2015 by building tourism-related projects that would attract visitors," he says. Currently, two islands, Saadiyat and Yas, are being developed for tourism purposes but more islands will be developed Al Muhairy adds. "In May, we will be launching a group of islands in western Abu Dhabi as tourist destinations."
Last, but not least, the new Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, now complete, is poised to cater to the fast-growing exhibitions and conferences market segment. As Sheikh Sultan concludes, it is not just the scale of developments. Equally important, the structure of the economy is in a process of rapid transition.
"The momentum of economic diversification, privatisation and liberalisation is building strongly. And as this process continues to accelerate, we will surely see a dramatic rise in the opportunities for cooperation and collaboration between Abu Dhabi and international partners."
© Gulf Business 2007
