State-of-the art technologies have become a major game changer within the MICE industry, and Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) is leading the way in the Middle East.

The company can now accurately keep pace with its visitors in real time and address potential customer service issues and expectations, courtesy of its Customer Analytics and Footfall Management System that was introduced in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on 1 October 2018. The innovative solution has revealed that the exact number of visitors to ADNEC’s flagship venue from 1 January to 1 May 2019 registered 1,152,428.

Championed and driven by ADNEC’s IT Department, the unique platform based on artificial intelligence and cognitive computing increases operational efficiency, predicts customer behaviour and enhances the overall customer experience.

As ADNEC continues to attract large-scale international events that welcomed 2.7 million visitors in 2018 alone, the company has made it a top priority to implement strategies that help grow its visitor count. In this context, customer analytics plays a crucial role in supporting the company’s commitment to customer happiness.

To most people, footfall analytics simply represents tracking how many people have entered a building. However, ADNEC’s technology also highlights which areas attendees visit, offering an unprecedented insight into customer behaviour.

The company’s primary reasons for investing in the cutting-edge system were to help eliminate operational challenges related to over utilised assets, including ATMs, food outlets and other facilities.

The system provides the company statistics and digital analisation quickly and efficiently, which allows ADNEC’s management to swiftly take action whenever necessary. The system also helps develop a database that will enhance strategic planning in the future.

ADNEC’s Customer Analytics and Footfall Management System makes use of the pre-installed technology at the venue, comprising the wireless network and the ADNEC Digital Content Management System, with the addition of footfall cameras and motion sensors.

The system is scalable and in the future the company aims to integrate it with IoT sensors for greater accuracy.

In the past, providing an accurate attendance figures on the spot was not possible, but today, the company can not only share the exact number of attendees at each event with its clients, but also offer them tracking details and an overview of movements with real-time notifications. Moreover, the operations teams at ADNEC can access this information anytime, anywhere at the touch of a button via an application and smart devices, instead of having to wait for a final report to be generated, as was the case in the past, which consumed more time and effort.

Members of the operations team at Capital Hospitality will soon also benefit from access to the system. This will allow them to plan for future events and exhibitions based on the crowd movement results received from past events. 

To date, the system has provided accurate visitor counts for some of the major events that took place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, including the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) that attracted more than 34,000 visitors, as well as the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) that welcomed over 145,000 visitors. 

The smart solution also supports security crowd management, which was particularly useful at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in February 2019 – a high-security defence event that attracted more than 124,000 unique visitors.

At ADNEC, innovative technologies, including the footfall analytics system, which offers an in-depth understanding of customers and their needs – is a key pillar of business prosperity and helps deliver a superior experience every single time.

Moreover, ADNEC encourages employees to implement their visions into reality and is thus proud of the Internal Innovation Programme that not only supports creativity, but also helps bring bright ideas to fruition – supporting the process from concept to implementation.