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Spanning more than 1.6 million square feet of space, the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre features 21 meeting rooms, 12 column-free halls, and more than 1,800 hotel rooms on site.
The calendar for the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) can be summed up in one word: busy. As 2023 winds down, the venue is set to welcome more than 25 events over the closing quarter, including 6,000 heads of state and government and global executives for the World Investment Forum, Oct. 16-20, and a crowd of innovators who are shaping the future of broadcasting and technology for the Global Media Congress, Nov. 14-16. That’s on top of an already packed schedule that had included the World Utilities Congress, the IATA Ground Handling Conference, and the Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit in the spring.
This year’s active schedule at the venue sets the pace of what’s to come: ADNEC and the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau have already lined up 14 international association conferences for 2024, including the World Environment Education Congress, the WTO Ministerial Conference, and the ICIP — IEEE International Conference on Image Processing.
In May, ADNEC hosted the 2023 IATA Ground Handling Conference, which convenes more than 800 leaders from airlines, airports, ground service providers, and manufacturers annually.
Services Organizers Love, Experiences Attendees Won’t Forget
Part of the reason ADNEC is welcoming so many events: The impressive story the building’s statistics tells: 450,000 square feet of flexible event space, 13 column-free exhibit halls, 21 meeting rooms, two conference halls, plus the purpose-built International Convention Centre at ADNEC, ideal for opening events of up to 6,000. In addition, 1,800 on-site hotel rooms, a capacity of 12,000 across the facility’s combined spaces, and flexible configuration options will suit every group’s needs. However, it’s not just about numbers in Abu Dhabi; the venue offers in-house support to simplify the workload for event organizers. Whether organizers need assistance with handling risk assessment forms, creating marketing materials that drive attendance, or hosting VIP government delegations, the team at ADNEC does it all.
Outside of what’s on the agenda, Capital Experience — the venue’s destination management company — helps organizers curate the kind of authentic experiences that turn a conference into a culturally immersive experience. Attendees can explore nearby UNESCO World Heritage sites and ancient agricultural villages, visit the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and journey through the marbled halls of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque to discover the magic of the destination. Another big selling point for international groups is the city’s convenient location: Half the entire world’s population is within a five-hour flight.
Big Plans for the Big Picture
Abu Dhabi has been making headlines in the business events industry, topping the 2022 ICCA rankings of destinations for association meetings in the Middle East and earning the distinction of being named the safest city in the world for six years in a row. Expect to hear even more about the city in the coming years as leaders continue to work on the UAE Centennial 2071 plan, which includes an ambitious goal: “To be the best country in the world by 2071.”
To learn more about the world-class facilities at the ADNEC and why Abu Dhabi should be at the top of your site-selection list, get in touch with the sales team at [email protected].
