Gulf - Abu Dhabi to host major global healthcare congress starting 2019.

Abu Dhabi will be hosting a major annual healthcare event starting from next year, as part of strategies to promote the UAE capital into a world-class healthcare hub, authorities said.

The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Medical Tourism Association (MTA) to join efforts to position Abu Dhabi as a world-leading medical tourism destination by hosting the MTA's annual World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress in Abu Dhabi as a major part of the agreement.

The globally-recognised event - that brings together experts and organisations from more than 100 countries worldwide and regularly attracts more than 10,000 visitors, approximately 200 exhibitors and sponsors and up to 100 hosted VIP buyers - will be held in Abu Dhabi in September 2019.

The MTA will also open its office in Abu Dhabi as well as the production of a new Abu Dhabi Destination Guide as it works to attract the best international healthcare firms into the capital so as to promote Abu Dhabi as a hub for medical tourism.

The MoU opens a pathway for DCT Abu Dhabi and the MTA to strategically cooperate to further build a medical tourism proposition for consumer markets in several key...