Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority receives the award for Best Mobile Government Services for Tourism category 

Abu Dhabi, UAE. February 15, 2017:  Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) has won top honours at the ‘Best Mobile Government Service Awards’ at the World Government Summit Awards for the new, improved version of its Visit Abu Dhabi mobile application. 

The latest Visit Abu Dhabi app version, which allows users to gain instant access to all that is new in the emirate via their mobile phones and tablets, won top spot in the Tourism category at the prestigious ceremony, which was held in Dubai on Tuesday, February 14th as part of the World Government Summit 2017. 

The Tourism category recognises mobile innovations of government entities in the areas of tourism development, travel and hospitality, culture and arts, recreation, sight-seeing and shopping, with TCA Abu Dhabi’s app triumphing with judges over stiff competition from rival entries from both Japan and Russia.
The Best M-Government Service Awards, which are open to all governments worldwide, is an annual initiative that has its origins in the Smart Government vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which aims to stimulate and encourage government entities to provide creative and innovative solutions using smart phone applications, mobile phones and SMS solutions.  

Other categories at the Awards included Health, Education, Environment, Social Affairs, Safety & Security, Economy & Commerce, Transportation & Infrastructure as well as a ‘One Stop App’ category.

HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of TCA Abu Dhabi, and HE Saif Saeed Ghobash, Director General of TCA Abu Dhabi received the award from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

“The Visit Abu Dhabi App provides world-class services and provisions making content-rich experiences available for all our residents, visitors, and caters to key target markets. It has quickly become an indispensable and invaluable resource for all” said HE Saif Saeed Ghobash, Director General of TCA Abu Dhabi, “Our collaboration with numerous governmental entities enables us to integrate their services within the app and provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date information.”

“This award received today is a testimony to TCA Abu Dhabi’s strategy to ensure sustainable progress, making the best use of modern technological advancements accessible to the public, and keeping pace with the best international practices in the field of smart applications.”  

Version 4.0 of the TCA Abu Dhabi app, which allows access to the same content at the Authority’s destination portal, VisitAbuDhabi.ae, is available for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone, and features many enhancements which made it a more user-friendly experience. The Visit Abu Dhabi app has reached more than 240,000 downloads so far, and has been nominated twice, in 2014 and 2015, for the prestigious Webby Awards for the Best Travel App Award.

A number of useful and intuitive new additions were added, including integration with The Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars, which allow users to book a taxi directly from within the app, and also integration with the Department of Transport to get live geo-located bus data, which allows the user to discover the best route and schedule to get to any point of interest.

The app has also been integrated with the Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Centre (ADSIC) for up-to-date map information for multiple points of interest such as hospitals, mosques, petrol stations, as well as with the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (AWQAF) for updated prayer times as well as TripAdvisor, to allow access to reviews for all locations, hotels and restaurants.

Content and services on the app are available in ten languages - Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese and Chinese - and provide a comprehensive, easy-to-navigate online and offline mobile guide giving instant and structured information on Abu Dhabi’s attractions, experiences, culture, heritage, hotels, restaurants and most frequently-asked questions.