Paper houses

Paper houses

Some jobs must be more hyped up then they should be. ‘Recommending’ businesses to do better just doesn’t sound that exciting to Kipp.

March 31, 2011 2:23 by Precious de Leon

Two words that pop into our minds here when it comes to Abu Dhabi growth are measured and methodical.

From the formation of the OBAD (Office of Brand Abu Dhabi) to the events calendar put together by Flash Entertainment. Of course it hasn’t been a smooth ride and not everything was accounted for. Kipp has, on occasion, pointed out some of these short comings like the sometimes ghost town that is Yas Island when there are no events in that area—a frustrating for hoteliers and businesses close to that area, which are mostly forced to drop rates to almost bargain-basement levels to attract weekenders.

Generally though, the Abu Dhabi government has done well to not get ahead of itself (of course if you have stories to share, Kipp’s just a tweet, FB and email away!).

And now there’s news that the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority is launching the next phase of its destination marketing strategy. The campaign is designed to attract more than two million hotel guests this year and position the emirate as a ‘luxury’ destination. The 10-month campaign will be running across print, TV, radio and online.

As the city readily delivers itself to a global and very public spotlight, it should expect to get closely scrutinised and judged. And that’s why Kipp is glad to hear that the Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority (ADAA) has reprimanded 700 state-owned firms this week.

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Tags: Abu Dhabi, accountability, authority, fraud, government, paper trail, politics, UAE