Abu Dhabi Visitor Experience Guidelines: what they ask of visitor feedback

The guidelines are a reference framework issued by the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), refined and validated with the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC). They set a common standard of service across the visitor journey, from trip planning to departure, in support of Abu Dhabi's Tourism Strategy 2030.

• Who they are for: operators of the 11 touchpoints listed below; they are a shared reference for the Abu Dhabi brand, not a certification scheme.
• How they are enforced: DCT Abu Dhabi conducts audits and compliance checks as the roll-out expands and works with stakeholders on implementation.
• Related programmes: DCT Abu Dhabi also runs Visitor Experience Awards for operators within the same programme.

According to the official release, the guidelines cover: cultural sites, museums, mobility, attractions, hospitality, tour guides and tour operators, visitor information, events, cruise terminal, airport and malls. Each touchpoint has its own sector guideline document.

The sector documents are distributed to operators through QCC and are not published on the open web. Everything below about their content is based on our own reading of the museum guideline in September 2026 and is marked as such; operators should work from the current edition they receive from DCT Abu Dhabi.

From our reading of the museum guideline (First Edition, 2025), the feedback provisions have four parts:

1. A feedback function on the museum's digital channels, in several languages, so that visitors can rate and comment.
2. A visitor feedback survey that collects comprehensive feedback, including questions on accessibility, satisfaction and suggestions.
3. Follow-up on low ratings: when an NPS or satisfaction rating falls below a threshold the museum sets for itself, the survey asks for more detail.
4. Visitor experience metrics reported to DCT Abu Dhabi: the NPS raw score, satisfaction (CSAT) per question, the number of feedback items and the use of digital surveys.

The airport guideline, in our reading, follows the same structure and notes that metrics are captured each quarter where an automated, real-time digital solution is not yet in place, which indicates that real-time digital collection is the expected state. The guidelines do not, in our reading, prescribe a particular device or vendor.

Whatever edition of the guideline you hold, these six points cover what an assessor can ask to see:

1. Collection at every touchpoint you operate: entrance, galleries or zones, café, shop, washrooms, exit; for an airport or a mall, each zone the guideline names.
2. Recognised metrics: the 0–10 recommendation question for NPS, a satisfaction question per service element, an accessibility question and a free-text suggestion.
3. Several languages, including Arabic, with the language stored against each answer.
4. Low-rating follow-up: a threshold you define, an extra question when it is crossed, and a record of what was done.
5. Per-period reporting: NPS raw score, satisfaction per question and response counts, by touchpoint and period, exportable in a format you can hand over.
6. Evidence: timestamps, touchpoint, channel and the follow-up trail, kept for the audit cycle.

Qmeter collects visitor feedback on kiosks, QR codes, SMS, e-mail and web widgets with one survey per touchpoint, translated into the visitor's language with AI and reviewed by your team. NPS and satisfaction per question appear live per touchpoint and period; a low rating opens a ticket with an owner and a deadline (closed-loop ticketing); scheduled reports export the metrics per period. Data can be hosted in the UAE or on your own infrastructure.

Qmeter runs visitor feedback for cultural institutions in Abu Dhabi. The reporting template itself comes from DCT Abu Dhabi; Qmeter supplies the numbers behind it. See the full picture on visitor experience measurement for museums.

• Abu Dhabi Media Office: DCT Abu Dhabi releases Visitor Experience Guidelines (18 September 2026) — the 11 touchpoints, QCC alignment, audits and compliance checks.
• WAM: DCT Abu Dhabi launches Visitor Experience Awards.
• Abu Dhabi Guideline for museums (ADG 60/2025, First Edition), distributed through the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council — our reading, September 2026; not publicly available.