Abu Dhabi: Occupancy in Abu Dhabi’s hotels and hotel apartments climbed to 71 per cent last year, with over 2.8 million guests checking in, marking an 18 per cent increase over 2012, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) said in a statement on Wednesday.

This brought almost 8.8 million guest nights – a 26 per cent increase compared to 2012 – and an 18 per cent rise in total revenue to reach Dh5.48 billion.

Food and beverage income also rose 17 per cent to reach Dh2.1 billion.

“We’ve been doing significant efforts to promote Abu Dhabi as a destination locally, regionally, and internationally. Not to mention what has been happening in the destination itself such as infrastructure, [and] events. So today we see the benefits of our work,” Mohammad Al Daheri, director of Strategy & Policy at TCA, told Gulf News in a phone interview.

As for 2014, Al Daheri added that TCA will “continue efforts to promote Abu Dhabi by having new activities and new events. We try to attract events organisers to host not just business events like conferences, but also leisure events.”

Meanwhile, domestic tourism accounted for just over a third of all arrivals – 960,476 in total, which grew eight per cent on 2012.

As for the increased number of guests, they stayed longer in the emirate with the average length of stay rising seven per cent to 3.13 nights.

India became Abu Dhabi’s largest overseas source market for hotel guests, with 175,929 guests – a 27 per cent increase on 2012. This was followed by the UK with 162,973 guests and Germany with 119,590 guests.

Shaikh Sultan Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, chairman of TCA Abu Dhabi added: “Given the fact that we have now achieved the original hotel guest targets set for 2014, we have reviewed our goals and are uplifting our sights by 10 per cent. We are now looking to achieve 3.1 million hotel guests this year with a 10 per cent year-on-year compounded growth in the near term.”

He also said TCA is “quietly optimistic about reaching our revised 2014 target”.

Last year saw 13 new hotels and hotel apartments opening across Abu Dhabi, resulting in a 10 per cent increase in the number of hotel rooms to total around 26,000.