Abu Dhabi looks to Disney for tourism tips

Abu Dhabi’s tourism arm is teaming up with the Walt Disney empire in a bid to bolster service and management standards in the Gulf emirate’s hospitality sector. The Disney Institute, a unit of the US entertainment giant, will host a series of seminars subsidised by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, covering customer service skills and leadership. Emiratis will be offered free places on the courses, the ADTA said in a statement. Abu Dhabi is spending billions of dollars on visitor attractions and luxury hotels in a bid to diversity its petrodollar-driven economy. Alongside the city’s Formula 1 circuit and Ferrari World – the world’s largest indoor theme park – Abu Dhabi plans to open a $165m water park in 2012 and the first overseas post of the Louvre museum. The president of UAE conglomerate BinHendi Enterprises said in May that Dubai needed an entertainment resort on the size and scale of Disneyland if it is to establish itself as a global tourism destination. “We need an entertainment anchor for the family, something like Disney but not Disney. If we have a project like this in Dubai, we have an anchor for the whole of the world,” Mohi-Din BinHendi said. “There is a big gap between Euro Disney and Tokyo Disney. There is a craving for an entertainment anchor [in this region].” Though Walt Disney Company was mooted in May as a potential partner for stalled entertainment resort Dubailand, the company has since said it has no plans to open in the region. “We continually look for opportunities to grow our business and as a part of that process, we have conversations with many different entities,” a Walt Disney Company spokesperson said. “While Dubai is an attractive market, we currently have no plans for the region.”