Abu Dhabi among top ten destinations to visit during 2010

The USA's best selling travel guide, Frommer's, has listed the Arabian Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi as among its top ten destinations to visit during 2010. The listing follows recommendations from journalists and voting from Frommer's readers. Frommer's says the list of its 2010 recommended destinations represents "a mix of emerging hotspots, under-appreciated cities and placed to visit before they are over-rum by tourist crowds." The announcement comes hard on the heels of last month's inclusion of Abu Dhabi within its Top Ten recommended destination for 2010 by Lonely Planet, one of the world's leading tourist guides. "This is a fantastic endorsement on which to end what has been an incredible year for Abu Dhabi," Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) was quoted as saying by Global Arab Network.

"It has been a year which has seen the destination achieve world-class event status with the staging of the Etihad Airways Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, of an expanding tourism proposition with a number of private sector operators bringing in new attractions and a significant growth in the emirate-wide hotel stock with new, gold-standard properties in the Liwa Desert, downtown Abu Dhabi city and on the magnificent Yas Island. We have a tremendous foundation on which to build even further in 2011." Frommer's commends Abu Dhabi for its beautiful beaches, greenery, distinct Emirati character and the preservation of its conservative heritage.

Fiona Quinner, Frommer's UK Commissioning Editor described the destination as offering "Excellent value-for-money flights with Etihad airways and the usual excellent Arabic hospitality." - Emirates News Agency, WAM