ABU DHABI DEBUTS AT MATTA FAIR

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 (Bernama) -- The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is making its
debut at the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA)
Fair in a bid to attract more Southeast Asian travellers to its shores.

Spearheaded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), the destination's
pavilion features tour operators, the Emirate's leading exhibitions facility,
the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre, and the Abu Dhabi Airports Company,
which operates the state-of-the-art Abu Dhabi International Airport.

"Our estimates show that Abu Dhabi attracts between 20 to 22 per cent of all
Malaysian tourists arrivals to the Middle East.

"The number of Malaysian tourists is set to increase a lot by next year as
more events will take place then," Rajiv Vats, Manager of Abu Dhabi Pavilion
sharer Kanoo Holidays for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, said in a
statement here Friday.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, received 72,328 hotel guests from
Southeast Asia last year, 5,515 of whom were from Malaysia.

Abu Dhabi was also tipped last year by two of the world's top travel guides,
Frommer's and Lonely Planet, as a top 10 destination to visit in 2010.
-- BERNAMA