McIlroy backs Abu Dhabi to become world hotspot

Top golfer Rory McIlroy has said he believes Abu Dhabi will become one of the world's hotspots in the next few years.

The Northern Ireland star, who travels the world competing on the European and US Tours, has predicted that the UAE capital is destined to become a major global attraction.

McIlroy, who is currently in the city competing in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, said: "You can definitely see Abu Dhabi evolve every time you come back, with places like Yas Island and Saadiyat. 

"At first I played Saadiyat a couple of years ago and was very impressed with it and actually went to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of last year, which was an amazing weekend."

He added: "You can see the city's still developing, but it's definitely going to become one of the major attractions in the world in the years to come."

His comments come on the back on those by Australian celebrity Dannii Minogue who was singing Abu Dhabi’s praises as a top holiday destination earlier this week.

Minogue, a brand ambassador for Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, regularly travels to the emirate during trips from London to her home city of Melbourne.

“I think a lot of people know Dubai but Abu Dhabi has some really fun things to do also,” she said during an interview with Australian website, Escape.com.

Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s oil-rich capital, saw its best year on record for hotel bookings aided by a boost in tourists from China and India, the city’s state tourism agency has said.

The Gulf emirate saw 2,111,611 people check into its hotels during 2011, bypassing its target of attracting two million guests by more than 110,000.

Guest nights rose 22 percent on the year-earlier period while occupancy levels rose seven percent, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority said.

On Wednesday, Abu Dhabi said it was once again pushing back the opening of local branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim art museums, after a fresh review of the projects.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi, a spin-off of the famous Paris museum, will now open in 2015 while Abu Dhabi's branch of New York's Guggenheim, will open in 2017, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) said in a statement.

The Zayed National Museum will open in 2016, the statement said. All the three museums were originally scheduled to open between 2013 and 2014.

Abu Dhabi has plans to invest billions of dollars in tourism, infrastructure and industry to diversify its economy away from oil.