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Abu Dhabi tourists up 20 per cent at over 1 million

Occupancy for the January-April period increased marginally to 79 per cent in comparison to last year while revenue from hotel establishments recorded a 12 per cent increase to Dh2,431 billion.

Abu Dhabi: The number of guest arrivals into Abu Dhabi during the first four months of the year increased by 20 per cent compared to the previous year with more than one million people staying in the emirate’s 161 hotels and hotel apartments, new figures released by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, or TCA Abu Dhabi, show.

The 1,370,241 guest arrivals delivered 3,899,135 guest nights, an increase of 11 per cent on the same period in 2014, prompting the authority to increase the 2015 guest arrivals target from 3.5 million to 3.9 million.

Domestic tourism from within the UAE remained the primary source of hotel guests and guest nights, accounting for a 44 per cent share of all arrivals, with 441,154 guest arrivals generating 1,004,525 guest nights, a rise of 20 per cent on 2014.

The January-to-April performance has also been spurred on by emphatic growth in guest arrivals from China, the first four months of this year saw 79,713 Chinese guest arrivals into Abu Dhabi — an increase of 75 per cent during the corresponding period last year — just a handful less than second-placed India, which recorded 16 per cent growth to achieve 79,793 guests for the same period.

Abu Dhabi recently welcomed 23 hotels, attractions and experiences into the Welcome Chinese programme in partnership with the China Tourism Academy, which encourages greater dispersal from more Chinese guest arrivals, extending reasons for them to stay longer.

China has now become the third-largest overseas market for the emirate, supported by strong regional GCC tourism growth, and robust performances from the UK and Ireland, India, the US and leading European markets.

Occupancy for the January-April period increased marginally to 79 per cent in comparison to last year while revenue from hotel establishments recorded a 12 per cent increase to Dh2,431 billion. Room revenue increased by 16 per cent while food and beverage revenue increased by three per cent.

Major market strides were made during the same period with arrivals from Saudi Arabia posting an increase of 46 per cent to become the sixth-largest international market, behind the UK, India, China, Germany and the United States.

The UK remained the leading European market with arrivals jumping 17 per cent to 80,673 delivering 328,410 guest nights, a 10 per cent increase.

business@khaleejtimes.com