The number of hotel guests staying in Abu Dhabi in July rose 16 percent year-on-year, the ninth consecutive month of double-digit growth in the UAE capital’s hotel sector, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said on Sunday.
The number of guests staying in the capital’s 116 licensed hotels and hotel apartments in July rose to 137,714, up 16 percent compared to July 2009.
The figures by the ADTA also found that the international market was, for the first time, performing better than the domestic market. The data showed that the number of overseas visitors was up 29 percent, while domestic growth only rose four percent
However, the local market was the still the dominant sector and accounted for 45 percent of guests in July. Second was the UK with some 7,101 guests, a year-on-year rise of 27 percent. Guest numbers from Saudi rocked 47 percent to 4,682, while French visitors increased 36 percent to 2,070.
The average length of time guests stayed also increased six percent to 2.73 nights, while the number of nights booked totaled 376,439, an increase of 24 percent.
However, the increase in visitors did not counteract the rising growth in supply and, as a result, average occupancy levels fell thirteen percent year-on-year and room rates fell 23 percent.
“Growth in what is traditionally a slow summer month for Abu Dhabi is immensely encouraging,” said HE Mubarak Al Muhairi, director general, ADTA. “Our guest performance this year has now gone over the million mark leaving us well placed to meet, if not exceed, our 2010 target of 1.65 million.”
Between January and July this year, 1,074,293 guests stayed in the capital’s hotels and the ADTA figures also found that food and beverage revenues rose fourteen percent and now account for 35 percent of all revenue in the hotel sector.
“We are confident because of what lies ahead in the coming months for Abu Dhabi with the October launch of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi which we believe will have strong regional and international appeal and November’s staging of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which is shaping up to be an thrilling finale for the F1 season,” Al Muhairi added.
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