Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi has been selected as the host of the next edition of the prestigious International Council of Nurses Congress, the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) said in a press release on Monday.

This world-renowned event, held every four years, recently concluded in Barcelona, Spain, where Abu Dhabi was announced as the destination for the 2021 congress.

Organised by the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the 2021 edition will be hosted by the Emirates Nursing Association (ENA) and supported by Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau, a division of TCA Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre that will host the event. The congress is expected to bring more than 6,000 delegates to the emirate.

“Our strategy for tourism growth will lead to a 4 per cent GDP contribution by 2021, and as part of this we are targeting a growth of 7 per cent in the meetings and conference sector”, said Saif Saeed Ghobash, Director-General of TCA Abu Dhabi.

“Abu Dhabi currently attracts 2.2 million business visitors a year and is targeting growth of 5-7% by 2021, with targets to grow this to three million business visitors by 2021,” he said.

“As part of this growth we have identified medical tourism as one of our key specialist markets to fulfil our ambitions and attracting meetings and events of associations like this is fundamental to our vision,” Ghobah said.

He said hosting of this event further underpinned the emirate’s ambitions to become a regional hub for medical excellence.

Founded in 1899, ICN is the world’s first and widest reaching international organisation for health professionals, a federation of more than 130 national nurses associations representing millions of nurses worldwide. Operated by nurses and taking the lead with nursing on the international stage, ICN works to ensure quality nursing care for all and sound health policies globally.

Previous editions of the Congress have been held in such prominent cities as Melbourne in Australia, Durban in South Africa, Taipei in Taiwan, Copenhagen in Denmark and Vancouver in Canada.