Abu Dhabi: Hotel guest numbers in Abu Dhabi went up by 4 per cent in July compared to the same month last year with 396,548 guests checking into the emirate’s 164 hotels and hotel apartments delivering 928,502 guest nights, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) said on Wednesday. Hotel revenues for the month were Dh327 million ($89 million) from a total of almost 33,000 available rooms.
Year to date guest arrivals climbed to 2.6 million in the first seven months of the year with a growth of 7 per cent on the year.
According to the authority, all three regions of the emirate, Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and Al Dhafra posted guest arrival increases on the back of strong domestic tourism visitors from within the UAE, with 138,273 arrivals accounting for 35 per cent of all monthly visits.
“The launch of a full programme of Abu Dhabi Summer Season events has helped underpin these figures,” said Saif Saeed Ghobash, Director General, TCA Abu Dhabi.
Additional ground to cover
“July’s growth in visitors from China, UK, and USA, and the month’s UAE visitor arrivals total of 138,000 is encouraging and compares favourably when adjusted to take into account the Eid Al Fitr boost contained in the July 2016 figures.”
“India and Saudi Arabia continue to perform well. Though there is still additional ground to cover, we have to consider the advances that are being made against the backdrop of a destination which has seen a nine per cent increase in hotel room inventory this year compared to last.”
China is the leading international source market. For the year-to-date, 213,000 Chinese have stayed in Abu Dhabi’s hotels, representing a 59 per cent increase.
India is the emirate’s second largest overseas market with 192,000 Indians checking into Abu Dhabi from January to July, which is an increase of 7 per cent year-on-year. Guests from the UK remain in third, with 136,000 Britons arriving in the capital.
