New global convention alliance has energy focus

Notes and media contacts

About ADTA

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) was established in September 2004. It has wide ranging responsibilities for building and developing the emirate's tourism industry. These include; destination marketing; infrastructure and product development; and regulation and classification. A key role is to create synergy in the international promotion of Abu Dhabi through close coordination with the emirate's hotels, destination management companies, airlines and other public and private sector travel-related organizations
Energy Cities Alliance contacts:

Ms Gillian Taylor
Business Tourism/MICE Manager
Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority
Tel: (971) 2 444-0444

The Perth Convention Bureau

The Perth Convention Bureau has been in existence since 1972 and is one of Australia's longest established bureaux. A non-profit organisation, it is responsible for marketing Perth and Western Australia as a destination for conventions, exhibitions and incentive travel groups.

The Bureau is a partnership between the State Government and the private sector who jointly contribute the bulk of its funding.

Recognised as taking a non-traditional approach to its marketing, the Perth Convention Bureau is the only bureau in the world to have twice won the International Congress and Convention Association's prestigious Best Marketing Award.

The first was awarded in 2001 for the Bureau's innovative annual scholarships and conference development awards program. The scholarships assist in the professional development of local association executives and the conference development awards are designed to assist organisations to stage inaugural conferences.

The Bureau picked up its second marketing 'Oscar' four years later for its pioneering 'Beyond Compliance' initiative that aims to position Western Australia as the nation's leading disabled friendly destination.

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN ENERGY PROFILE

It used to be that everything was bigger and better in Texas. But with the world in the grip of one of the most spectacular resources booms ever seen, the saying could now just as easily - and truthfully - be applied to Western Australia.

Just as the discovery of oil at Beaumont in 1901 fuelled the ascendency of the Lone Star State last century, Western Australia too has been transformed by the discovery of vast petroleum and mineral reserves in virtually every quarter of its enormous land mass.

And while its resources pedigree dates back to the gold rushes of the late 19th Century, it was really the discovery in the 1960s and 1970s of vast deposits of iron ore in the Pilbara, nickel in the Eastern Goldfields and oil and gas off the North West coast that set Western Australia on the road to becoming one of the world's most vital suppliers of a multitude of raw materials.

In the 1960s, it was Western Australia's proximity to the rising economic might of Japan that fired the first wave of development, often from scratch in the harshest and most remote environments. Today it is the State's proximity to China that is underpinning unprecedented new levels of investment in resources projects to feed the rapid urbanisation of more than one billion Chinese.

Recent figures released by the local Chamber of Minerals and Energy show resources projects worth an incredible $60 billion are either in development or planned over the next decade, largely to feed China's ravenous needs.

Of the new investment foreshadowed by the Chamber, more than half can be attributed to the emergence of Western Australia as one of the world's biggest producers of LNG. Not counting a staged $5 billion expansion program at the North West Shelf due for completion next year, at least five other new offshore LNG projects collectively worth about $40 billion are being planned over the next decade - and that doesn't include the $10 billion Sunrise project north of Wyndham in the Timor Sea.

A side effect of the rapid increase in spending has been the emergence of Perth, the State capital, as one of the world's top five oil and gas "hubs" specialising in related research, training and administration services.

The Western Australian Energy Research Alliance (WAERA) combines the multi-disciplinary expertise of three established institutions - the University of Western Australia, CSIRO Petroleum and Curtin University of Technology. Working in partnership with companies and government as part of Western Australia's expanding energy sector, the WAERA is rapidly developing into one of the world's leading, and most easily accessible, oil and gad research groups.

The vast and diverse environment across Western Australia also provides great opportunities to harness wave, solar, wind, tidal, biomass and geothermal as principal renewable energy resources.

Aberdeen Convention Bureau

Aberdeen Convention Bureau, which is an independent unit within Visit Scotland, funded by Aberdeen City Council and Industry Partners was set up in 1995. The role of Aberdeen Convention Bureau is to secure new conference business for Aberdeen City Region (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire) and to provide a free and comprehensive service for conference organisers and meeting planners.

Aberdeen Convention Bureau's strategic role is to raise awareness of Aberdeen City Region as a business tourism destination.
The Bureau is responsible for leading and implementing the City Region's Business Tourism Strategy in partnership with key stakeholders and industry partners.

Attracting conferences that relate to subject matter linked with the City Region's expertise in oil and gas, bio technology, health, food science, environment and renewable energy is a key objective for the Bureau.

ABERDEEN ENERGY PROFILE

Located on the North East coast of Scotland, Aberdeen is a thriving city. Over the last 30 years, the city has reinvented itself from a provincial regional centre dependent upon fishing, farming and tourism to become the centre of the UK's national oil and gas exploration and production activity and one of Europe's most enterprising oil capitals.

The UK North Sea is second only to the US Gulf of Mexico for the intensity of oil and gas exploration and production and density of infrastructure with more than $400 billion invested Capital spending in 2005 was over $10 billion, with a similar sum committed in 2006. An estimated $500 million is currently committed to this new corporate infrastructure in the city, which is variously known as the Oil Capital of Europe and Energy Capital of Europe. This will enhance both the city's and Scotland's reputation in energy.

In other words, Aberdeen is currently undergoing a renaissance as a key global energy and oil and gas hub. It is a safe, superbly networked place from which hundreds of highly skilled, technologically savvy companies in the supply chain forage the world for business. There are some 2,000 strategically important energy companies including many of the world's major players centred or with major stake holdings in Scotland. Of these, more than 900 are packed into and immediately around the city.

The exploration effort continues to yield encouraging results; 2006 saw a commercial discovery success rate of 36%, which could potentially deliver around 500 million boe, although commerciality ultimately hinges on commodity prices. Turning to mid and downstream infrastructure again, the pipelines network and the suite of strategically located receiving terminals and petrochemicals plant, is very substantial.

In terms of concentration of upstream offshore expertise the UK's second only outwith Houston. More than 350,000 jobs depend on it directly and indirectly. Of these, around 35% are based in
Scotland, mostly in the Scottish North-east, especially Aberdeen.

Increasingly, Aberdeen is the Eastern Hemisphere headquarters to a growing number of exploration and production companies and a supply chain with an international reputation for excellence in oil and gas services. It is a city addressing the future of energy, not just the finding and producing of resources from brand new petroleum provinces, but getting the best out of what exists already by applying new thinking, new technologies and innovative business practices to boosting recovery rates from depleting oil and gas reservoirs, and ensuring the integrity and efficiency of existing infrastructure throughout the value chain.

Aberdeen is home to the largest oil and gas production event outside the United States. Offshore Europe is held biannually and in September 2007 welcomed a record 35,000 visitors to the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre with 1445 exhibiting companies from over 100 countries.

The UK's largest renewable energy conference, All Energy, is also held annually in Aberdeen. Renewables projects of note being led by Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) include the Energy Futures Research Centre and the Energy Futures Research Professorship, the UK's first urban offshore wind farm proposal and the Energy Futures Centre.

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA)

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) was established by Ruler's Decree in September 2004, It is a statutory body with wide ranging responsibilities for building the emirate's tourism industry. Its Chairman is HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan and Director General is HE Mubarak Al Muhairi.

The Government of Abu Dhabi has identified Business Tourism a key sector in the emirate's future development.

ADTA's mandate covers three main areas:

• Destination marketing - the ADTA, both independently and in association with other public and private sector organisations in Abu Dhabi's tourism community, actively markets the destination and its attractions to the local, regional and international travel trade, media and general public

• Infrastructure and product development - the ADTA acts as the catalyst in driving and coordinating the growth and development of the emirate's tourism infrastructure, including hotels and other facilities and services.

• Regulation, licensing and classification - the ADTA has primary responsibility for quality in the tourism industry and for ensuring consistently high standards in the sector.

ABU DHABI ENERGY PROFILE

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates has transformed itself from a small fishing village before the discovery of oil in the early 1960s to a metropolis which blends modernity and traditional Arabian culture. Less than 50 years ago the emirate of Abu Dhabi was little more than an empty desert inhabited by nomadic Bedouin tribes. In 1958 British explorers discovered what would turn out to be the world's fifth largest crude oil reserve, 90% of which is under Abu Dhabi.

In 1971 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nayhan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi became President of the newly independent United Arab Emirates and he set out to carve a modern country in the sand and the city is now is now a major global economic powerhouse and one of the world's top oil producers. Its per capita GDP is the highest in the world and the emirate produces 9.2% of the world's oil reserves and 4% of natural gas

Abu Dhabi is the only oil producer in the Gulf Region which has maintained private sector participation in the oil industry with 40% of shares of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) held by the public. Dolphin Energy's Gas project has been the largest single energy initiative ever undertaken in the Middle East and Dolphin's activities make up a complex, highly efficient value chain.

In 2006 the emirate of Abu Dhabi took a bold and historic decision to embrace renewable and sustainable energy technologies by establishing Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, a global cooperative platform for open engagement in the search for solutions to some of mankind's most pressing issues, energy security, climate change and truly sustainable human development. Masdar will hold The World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi 21 - 23 January 2008 and this will set the stage for the largest debate of global influencers and decision makers in the energy industry.

"For almost half a century Abu Dhabi has been a world leader in energy production. Now we as a nation are keen to play our part in the development and implementation of alternative sources of energy. We have embarked on a journey to expand and complement the evolving global energy market" said Dr Sultan Ahmed al Jaber, CEO of Masdar.

As a leading oil producer and financial and business centre of global stature, Abu Dhabi intends to leverage its outstanding natural attractions and maximise its potential through a massive $10 billion of investment in hotels and tourism facilities over the coming decade. Abu Dhabi emirate has entered a new era of economic liberalisation and modernisation that will transform it into one of the world's leading centres of excellence in tourism, culture, infrastructure development and across a wide spectrum of business and social activity. The aim is to make Abu Dhabi the cultural capital of the Middle East not just with the building of our museums such as the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Louvre Abu Dhabi but also with an emphasis on traditional heritage and culture.

Abu Dhabi is not just diversifying into tourism and real estate, however, but the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority set up in 1976 by Sheih Zayed to manage the emirate's oil profits has an estimated $1 trillion invested in world markets.


History The Calgary TELUS Convention Centre

The Calgary TELUS Convention Centre (CTCC) opened on November 14, 1974. At a cost of $8.8 million dollars, it was the first full service convention centre in Canada. A major expansion was completed in May, 2000 adding 68,000 square feet (20,726 square metres) of exhibit and meeting space.

Located in downtown Calgary, the CTCC is connected to three 4 star hotels with 1,100 guestrooms in total.

CALGARY ENERGY PROFILE

Calgary-based companies are driving more than $75 billion of the $108 billion of major energy-related projects in the province.
More than 6,400 petroleum engineers work in Calgary and another 77,600 workers are employed in natural and applied sciences-related careers.
Energy plays a large role in the success of Calgary's thriving economy. Calgary has welcomed and benefited from international investment to its energy sector from its early days.

Today, many of the world's largest international oil and gas companies have established a significant presence alongside their Canadian counter-parts in Calgary. Calgary is home to the majority of Canada's oil and gas production companies, major pipeline operators, oilfield service and drilling companies, and energy-related engineering and consulting firms.
Calgary is headquarters to major North American pipeline and energy distribution companies such as TransCanada Corporation, Enbridge, Terasen Pipelines and Alliance Pipelines.
Canada's largest concentration of investor owned electric power generation companies are based in Calgary. These companies produce electric power for millions of customers from sources as diverse as coal, natural gas, hydro, biomass and wind.