BY OUR BUSINESS BUREAU

ABU DHABI: Stakeholders in Abu Dhabi's expanding tourism industry are to be coached in digital marketing as experts pinpoint a rising trend in visitors pre-booking experience in advance of arriving in their destination of choice.

In a move to capitalise on web-marketing's ability to increase sales, reduce costs, build brands and enhance customer service delivery, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) is to host a digital marketing seminar on Feb.24, for stakeholders and partners of the Travel and Tourism Agencies Council (ATTAC).

"It is important that industry suppliers utilise all online means at their disposal and the session will help them better understand how to leverage the technology," said Paul Ram Prakash, ADTA's Industry Professional Development Manager.

The course -the first in a series of planned ADTA breakfast briefing sessions -will be conducted by Chris Johnstone, Managing Director of the UAE's SevDotCom which operates the MakeMyDayME.com online experience and activities booking system.

"The course will show how most online bookings come through in the evenings, which shows that most people like to book experiences after work hours and also demonstrates how important the web is to capturing the overseas market," Chris said. "We've notices a rising trend in visitors planning and booking experiences in advance of their arrival in a destination. They may only be in the UAE for a few days and want to make the most of their time to experience the wide variety of outdoor and cultural activities available," he expalined.

Chris will be presenting delegates with case studies from global companies who are successfully implementing digital marketing.

"Suppliers need to ask themselves some simple questions: Do they have online booking systems for customers? Have they optimised their search engines?" said Chris.

The digital marketing seminar has won the backing of ATTAC with Secretary General Hani Khorsheed expecting it to be 'extremely beneficial' to its members.

"This is a brilliant approach to knowledge transfer and will help our members align with the global trade curve to improve their own business results," he said.