With visitor numbers and hotel occupancy figures on the way up, Abu Dhabi’s hospitality market appears to be going from strength to strength. But are reports of falling room rates proving a case of too much too soon?
Trying to predict what will happen in the Abu Dhabi hospitality market is quickly becoming something of a fool’s errand. Over the last few months, government organisations have released a seemingly endless stream of positive tourism figures which, when taken with a steady supply of new hotel openings in the market is creating an exciting buzz.
For example, the most recent figures released by the UAE capital’s Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) have revealed that by the end of May, 1.1 million guests had stayed in Abu Dhabi’s hotels this year.
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Those visitor figures represent a 12% rise on the first five months of 2012, with those guests delivering a total of 3,573,854 guest nights, up 26% year-to-date, with the average-length-of-stay moving up 13% to 3.25 nights.
In addition to this, year-to-date revenues for hotels have climbed 17% to AED 2.3 billion (US $626 million) with May delivering its best-ever showing with 232,650 guests checking into the emirate’s accommodation, a rise of 21% on May 2012.
These figures, according to TCA Abu Dhabi director of strategy and policy Mohammed Al Dhaheri, show that Abu Dhabi is “well-placed to achieve its 2013 hotel guest target of 2.5 million.”
“With a blockbuster schedule of world-class culture, leisure and sporting events lined up over the next six months and the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau generating fresh optimism in the emirate’s business tourism capacity, we anticipate further growth through to December and another record-breaking year for the emirate’s hotel stock,” adds Al Dhaheri.
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