Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, executive director of marketing and tourism at the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi, speaks via video conference at Abu Dhabi's roadshow event in Beijing in October. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, said it is closely following China's prevention and control policies for the COVID-19 pandemic, and is confident it will receive many visitors from China again soon.
Since Chinese travelers need to go through at least a 14-day quarantine period when they come back to China from abroad, Abu Dhabi said it will continue to monitor the situation and take proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of visitors remains a key priority.
Demand for travel, compounded by Abu Dhabi's safety record, will act as a strong incentive for Chinese travelers eager to explore foreign destinations.
"We have always regarded China as a critical market and have constantly optimized tourism projects to provide unique travel experiences to Abu Dhabi for Chinese tourists," said Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, executive director of marketing and tourism at the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi.
"In addition to our extensive and diverse portfolio of tourism offerings, the emirate has also been named, for the fourth consecutive year, the safest city in the world by the renowned global database Numbeo," he said.
Over the years, ties between China and the UAE have grown beyond trade and economic partnerships to ones that also include strong cultural and tourism bonds.
Abu Dhabi has also been actively implementing a series of pandemic control measures to welcome back and protect international tourists. The UAE capital is now open to all vaccinated travelers without the need for quarantine and unvaccinated visitors from green list countries, including China.
In October, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi relaunched its overseas promotional roadshows in China since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The roadshows took place in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and the events demonstrated the enduring strong relationships between Abu Dhabi with Chinese partners and showed the significance of the China market to the city's tourism sector.
"Despite various challenges, we remain committed to investing and staying connected with the travel trade industry. We are really looking forward to welcoming Chinese travelers to experience our amazing destination for themselves," Al Shaiba said.
