Abu Dhabi: The Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi is targeting 600,000 Chinese hotel guests a year by 2021, according to a statement on Sunday.

The number of Chinese visiting Abu Dhabi has been going up in recent times. According to statistics by DCT, Abu Dhabi, till date, there has been a 40.9 per cent increase in visitors from China compared to 2017.

In the first two months of 2018, 86,400 Chinese visited the capital, with February alone accounting for 83.6 per cent increase. The Department is targeting 600,000 Chinese hotel guests a year by 2021.

“We have actively increased our efforts to capture the awareness of and convert Chinese travellers to visit Abu Dhabi. The efforts focused on lowering access barriers to Chinese travellers by preparing digital platforms, including our website and mobile application to fully support Mandarin-speaking users,” said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director Promotions and Overseas Offices, DCT Abu Dhabi.

“We have formed partnerships with the popular technology companies Weibo, WeChat and Baidu to help DCT Abu Dhabi reach millions of new potential Chinese travellers.”

DCT, Abu Dhabi recently conducted roadshows in China to attract more tourists to the capital.

The delegation, which included Etihad Airways, hotels, tour operators and attractions, visited capital city Beijing on March 19, followed by Nanjing on the March 21 and finally Guangzhou on March 23.