Emirates Palace, the luxury Abu Dhabi hotel that ranks among the world's most opulent, said on Saturday that occupancy was at "stellar" levels during the first quarter of 2011.
It said occupancy in February alone was at 82 percent compared to 52 percent on the same month last year.
The news came at ITB Berlin, one of the world's biggest travel trade fairs where the hotel is part of an Abu Dhabi destination pavilion mounted by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).
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"The first quarter this year resembled occupancy levels of back in 2008 and we are seeing signs of an upturn in interest from Europe," said Hans Olbertz, general manager, Emirates Palace.
"The upturn in interest and performance is due to the many events being staged in the emirate, strong corporate meetings growth and a definite increase in leisure business," he added.
"We had high occupancy during Chinese New Year and are seeing stronger performance from the European and Russian leisure side," Olbertz added.
Earlier this week, Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Authority said it was projecting a 15 percent growth in business related visitors to the emirate in 2011, rising by 200,000 to 1.5 million.
ADTA estimates that last year, business travellers accounted for 72 percent, or 1.3 of the 1.8m who stayed in the emirate's 115 hotels and hotel apartments.
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