The Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) has announced the launch of the ‘Abu Dhabi Specialist Programme’, an e-learning platform. It is being introduced with the aim of educating travel trade industry professionals with all destination-related information about the emirate. The process will be executed through a series of online courses.
The platform has been specifically designed for industry partners such as tour operators, travel agents, and wholesalers. Travel trade professionals will be provided with accurate and relevant information about Abu Dhabi through the programme. It will also support and encourage them to promote the destination to consumers within their markets.
The initiative comes as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic which brought all workshops and other forms of physical training to a halt. The new training and education programme is planning to reach a wider audience of travel trade agents worldwide. A series of virtual workshops and meetings have already been conducted since the outbreak of the global crisis.
HE Saood Al Hosani, Acting Undersecretary, DCT Abu Dhabi said in a press statement that the initiative is an important step towards reaching a larger number of travel trade agents across the globe, including previously untapped markets like Canada and New Zealand. He mentioned that the training and education platform ensures that all participating industry partners have easy and quick access to the latest content on Abu Dhabi and makes destination promotion aspect of the job much easier.
The courses consist of information related to key attractions in Abu Dhabi, local events, accommodation options and much more. It will roll out in three phases in several languages across 17 markets, including the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, China, South Korea, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland and Russia, as well as GCC countries.
In addition, the programme includes a rewards section featuring incentive programmes, exclusively available for ‘Abu Dhabi Specialists’ – travel trade agents who graduate from the main programme. The first phase has already been launched in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India on May 4.
