The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) is marking the first anniversary of its Abu Dhabi Specialists e-learning programme by introducing new modules and markets for the innovative training scheme.

The programme, which was launched just over a year ago as part of DCT Abu Dhabi’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, saw all forms of physical promotional offers, workshops and training courses shifted onto virtual platforms.

It was designed to educate travel industry professionals, including front-liners, product managers, tour operators, travel agencies and home-based agents, about ways to promote Abu Dhabi effectively. Launched in May 2020, the e-learning has been successfully rolled out across the markets in 17 different countries and in seven different languages. So far, 13,670 applicants have registered for the course and more than 7,000 have graduated as ‘Abu Dhabi Specialists’.

“We will be launching additional learning modules and expanding into new markets in Switzerland and Israel,” said Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, executive director of marketing and tourism at DCT Abu Dhabi.

The investment in training and upskilling confirms DCT Abu Dhabi’s commitment to support the travel trade in key source markets to provide quality advice and better service to customers considering Abu Dhabi as a travel destination.

The programme is part of DCT Abu Dhabi’s Travel Trade Marketing Plan to ensure the travel specialists are equipped with the right knowledge and tools to sell. Besides the training aspects, the specialists receive regular communications on the destination, invitations to events, and access to marketing toolkits. The enhanced programme will include three new modules to equip agents with knowledge about:

• Expo 2020 Dubai: The Expo 2020 Dubai module provides a comprehensive overview, including the history of World Expos, Expo 2020’s incredible programming, including events, art, culture and world-class entertainment from more than 190 participating countries, as well as breath-taking architecture and sensational gastronomy.
• Abu Dhabi as a Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE) destination: This module highlights the unique venues that Abu Dhabi has to offer for MICE groups, such as Qasr Al Hosn, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi and Etihad Arena.
• Abu Dhabi’s Culture assets and programmes: The module will aim to raise knowledge and understanding of Abu Dhabi’s cultural attractions and programmes by covering the history of the different culture assets, visitor experience and what to expect when visiting, as well as highlighting cultural events such as the Culture Summit Abu Dhabi, among others.

The programme is available in 17 markets (USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Russia & CIS, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar) and in seven different languages (Arabic, English, German, French, Italian, Russian and Mandarin).

The new modules will be progressively rolled out in different markets and languages, and the Abu Dhabi specialists will be accorded the ‘advanced’ certification upon completion.