Yas Island to increase hotel rooms to 4,000

Plans to almost double Yas Island visits to 48 million within six years have sparked a surge in hotel room pipeline.

Miral, the Yas Island promotor, said it expects visitor numbers to rise by 15% this year, leading to greater demand for hotel rooms, according to local media.

Hotel rooms will increase to 4,000, in all categories, up from the current 2,500 rooms across seven hotels at present.

"Tourism is a significant pillar of the emirate’s growth and development plans," said Miral chairman Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak.

Miral is set to open a Warner Bros theme park in 2018, adding to the existing attractions, which will lead to an expected 30 million visitors per year to the island, according to Miral Asset Management chief executive Mohammed Abudullah Al Zaabi.

Top source markets for Yas Island include China, India, Saudi Arabia, Germany the UK and the UAE.

Yas Island reported more than 600,000 people visited Yas Waterworld and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi this summer.