May 10--Newly opened Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi expects 700,000 visitors in 2013, general manger Mike Oswald told Khaleej Times in an interview during Arabian Travel Market.

Only in its fifth month of operation, the water park utilised its participation in the ATM to showcase all its facets, including its MICE offerings and enable international travel trade representatives to understand why partnering with it will boost their UAE itineraries in both leisure and MICE sectors.

"It's truly innovative park and we are expecting a lot of people to visit this summer," Oswald said. "Compare to other water parks in the UAE, its completely a unique product and differentiate us from anybody else," he responded when asked about the competition with other water parks in the country.

"I think we are going to have a very good year. We are expecting 700,000 visitors this year. The park's capacity is almost 6,000 per day, but we have not got close to that in the park.

"The park recently started special day and timing for ladies. He said the response is beyond the expectations for 'Ladies Night'. The special facility was earlier slated to begin on May 16, but a flood of requests has led the Park management to set the new earlier date for its commencement," he added. Talking about the marketing strategy, he said: "We work a lot with Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, tour operators and travel partners that's why ATM is extremely important for us."

"For individual visitors and the leisure sector we would like to emphasise that we are a new and exciting waterpark that offers 43 rides, slides, and attractions, many of which have never been seen before in any waterpark," Oswald said.

"We would also like to showcase our offers for corporate and business houses, students and other groups in the form of our innovative and tailor-made programmes for activities such as team-building, rewards and incentive trips, and other such events -- all held in the unique setting of one of the best waterparks in the world -- which is already wildly popular among individual visitors from far and wide," he added.

With the ATM drawing visitors from all over the region and the globe, Yas Waterworld aims at attracting the broad sweep of delegates that the event will receive from all markets, mainly the GCC, Russia, India, China, UK, Australia, Europe and the US. "Our aim is to make visitors aware of how Yas Waterworld caters to leisure visitors and the corporate and events sector by offering a mix of facilities and experien wces that can be found nowhere else," he said, adding: "We want to give out the message at the ATM that Yas Waterworld can take the "bored" out of the "boardroom" and refresh any individual or team, making meetings and team events energetic and conducive."

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(c)2013 the Khaleej Times (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

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