Increase in attractions drives rise in Abu Dhabi hotel guest numbers

The growing number of attractions in Abu Dhabi, including its Louvre satellite and Yas Island’s waterpark and Ferrari World, saw a 7.4% rise in hotel guest nights during Janaury when compared to the same month in 2017.

According to figures from the Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, 437,228 hotel guests stayed in the Emirate’s 162 hotels and hotel apartments in the month, an additional 30,000 nights when compared to the previous year.

Marking the beginning of what is anticipated to be a record year for the Emirate, source markets the USA the United States (36.1%), India (31.%), UK (19.1%), Saudi Arabia (15.4%) and China (10.7%) all saw double-digit growth.

The rise is seen as a vindication for the Department of Culture and Tourism’s targeted campaigns in China and India; with 282 flights a week arriving in Abu Dhabi from 13 Indian destinations, while Chinese visitors can obtain visas on arrival.

Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism Director General Saif Saeed Ghobash explains “we continue to invest heavily in promoting the emirate abroad across our source markets, with our strategy paying dividends in attracting more hotel guests than ever before.

“We are targeting more guests by the end of the year and with our expanding portfolio of attractions across the emirate, including Louvre Abu Dhabi and the soon to be opened Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi theme park, we are confident of reaching this number and continue on towards our target of 8.5 million visitors by 2021.”

The Department has also recently led a large delegation of tourism partners and stakeholders to ITB Berlin (7th to 11th March), one of the world’s largest tourism trade fairs, to capitalise on the strong start to the year and build on the gains from European markets. 

Images: Louvre Abu Dhabi (top) and Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi (below).

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