Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Guest arrivals to the emirate of Abu Dhabi in the first six months of 2015 rose 17% year-on-year to more than 1.98 million.
These guests generated 5.7 million nights in the emirate’s 163 hotel and hotel apartments, an increase of 11% from H1-14, according to figures released by the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi).
Total revenue for hotel establishments were up 8% to AED 3.346 billion ($911 million) in H1 this year, while room revenue grew 11%, food and beverage revenue increased slightly by 1%. Other revenues rose 22% to AED 402 million ($110 million).
Hotel guests increased 2% year-on-year in June, with a total of 268,335 arrivals taking up 870,304 rooms in the emirate, a rise of 13% from June 2014.
June 2015 showed an increase of 2% in hotel guests when compared to June of last year, with the 268,335 hotel guest arrivals generating an exceptional leap in guest nights of 13% to 870,304.
“We set ourselves a challenging guest-arrival target of 3.9 million hotel guests for this year, which we are very confident of achieving, especially given that our highly impressive half-year figures show double digit growth,” said Jasem Al Darmaki, acting director general of TCA Abu Dhabi.
The authority will remain committed to actively improving the average length of stay of its visitors, which was down 5% during the period compared to H1-14, the official said, adding that the TCA has several upcoming high-profile events that will attract guests to spend more time in the emirate.
The events include the new extended 2015/16 season of Abu Dhabi Classics, the annual F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Art, Al Darmaki revealed, adding that the authority expects a strong performance in H2, which “will pull [the] average length of stay back up closer to three nights.”
“Domestic tourism from within the UAE which accounts for a third of all guest arrivals has shown impressive year-on-year growth of 14%, with a stellar performance from the Western Region’s 10 hotels recording a 48% year-on-year increase and a rise of 103% in its June arrivals,” the statement by the TCA Abu Dhabi showed.
India has regained its spot as Abu Dhabi’s largest international source market with 127,312 Indians arriving into the emirate, an 18% rise year-on-year. Indians spent an average 3.71 nights each, well above the overall average of 2.89 nights. India was closely followed by the UK, China, Germany and the United States as largest overseas markets, with the Philippines providing 63,855 guest arrivals, recording a surge of 24%. Other counties in the top ten include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan, the TCA Abu Dhabi stated.
Chinese guest numbers leaped 72% year-on-year with 102,217 guest arrivals generating 148,842 guest nights, although their length of stay dropped 18% to 1.46 nights.
