Sharjah tourist arrivals increase 11%

Sharjah: The number of tourist arrivals in Sharjah increased by 11 per cent in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2009, according to the latest report by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA).

Resilience

The report also shows a 70 per cent hotel occupancy rate in the period under review. As many as 745,069 guests stayed in the emirate's 107 hotel and hotel apartments, compared to the 671,662 guests reported in the corresponding period in 2009, an increase of 11 per cent.

The total number of occupied rooms in Sharjah's hotels and hotel apartments was 783,396 in 2010, an eight per cent increase over the same period last year.

The majority of tourists (45 per cent) entering Sharjah in the first half of 2010 were from Europe, while 25 per cent were from the GCC, 14 per cent from Asian countries, 11 per cent from other Arab countries, and the remaining five per cent were from the Commonwealth, the United States, Africa and the Pacific region.

"The statistics provide clear evidence of the resilience of Sharjah's tourism sector, and its ability to maintain its previous achievements while pressing ahead with well-studied plans for the future to further increase the tourist flow from all over the world," Mohammad A. Al No'man, SCTDA Director-General, said in a statement.

• 107 Hotels and hotel apartments in emirate
• 70% Hotel occupancy rate in first half of this year