The World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit – essentially the most influential event at the annual travel and tourism industry’s international calendar – which began its 13th edition within the UAE capital today, has returned to the house of hospitality, in step with His Excellency Mubarak Al Muhairi, director general of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.
Welcoming the collection of just about 1,000 industry leaders, including keynote speaker, president Bill Clinton, to Abu Dhabi, Al Muhairi said the staging of the summit inside the UAE capital represented a key milestone within the emirate’s tourism evolution.
“Since Abu Dhabi began its tourism journey almost nine years ago, we now have achieved various milestones. This summit ranks among them,” said Al Muhairi.
“When we began our journey we received a polite, yet if we’re honest, a slightly skeptical welcome onto the tourism scene.
“Some saw us as dreamers, others as overly ambitious and under-developed.
“They looked as if it would forget that that’s where the idea that of travellers hospitality began.”
Al Muhairi cited the Arabian Gulf’s reputation for taking hospitality to legendary proportions.
“It is here that hospitality was required by sheer lifestyle and tradition. A traveller, regardless of who, or where from, was obliged to accept food and shelter for no less than three days before he continued his journey,” he explained.
“The adventurer Wilfred Thesiger, who we recall with fondness as Mubarak Bin London, recorded how, in his crossings of our Liwa desert, his unsuspecting hosts would often go without sustenance to guarantee he slept, and ate, well and gathered his strength for trials ahead.
“This region is rich with hospitality heritage. It’s a part of a past we’re happy with and, we believe, integral to the longer term ahead.”
Al Muhairi said in jointly hosting the summit with Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi was seeking to the international industry to see beyond its differences and interact to enhance the standard of life for destinations and their people.
“What you are going to experience over the 2 days isn’t simply a made from financial resources.
“It is likewise a made from vision, labor and backbone at the a part of many that have worked to ensure you leave this summit, and this emirate, with greater understanding, knowledge and a favorable cultural experience.
“That’s something money just can’t buy,” said the director general.
The 13th Global Summit’s theme of ‘A Time For Leadership’ also resonated well with Abu Dhabi, and the UAE, that’s blessed with visionary leaders, said Al Muhairi.