Today's Edition
ALLAN JACOB (ABU DHABI)
Tourists are making a beeline for Abu Dhabi and its strategy to attract more global travellers is paying off as it targets a massive hike in numbers over the next six years. The hospitality industry in the city is booming, with guests booked into hotels jumping to 1.3 million in the first quarter of the year, according to CBRE Middle East, which released the latest edition of its UAE Hospitality Market Review. This is a massive 22% rise over the same period last year.
Dubai visitor numbers also saw an impressive rise, as the city attracted 5.18 million international visitors during the first quarter of the year, up by 10.9%, and 9.1% from 2019.
Overall UAE visitor numbers also witnessed a “marginal increase” of 0.9 percentage points in the average occupancy rate compared with the same period last year.
Over the same period, the country’s average daily rate (ADR) increased by 5.6%, resulting in an overall 6.8% rise in the average Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR).
The CBRE report was optimistic about the UAE being able to attract more international visitors this year, and said local and regional events would give the sector an additional boost with hotels adding to their guest numbers.
“The UAE’s key performance indicators continued to showcase resilient performance in the first quarter of the year, largely supported by the elevated visitation levels. Over the remainder of the year, we expect that visitation will see a marked increase owing to several events, which are expected to continue to drive occupancy and rates to record levels,” said Taimur Khan, CBRE’s Head of Research MENA.
The latest Abu Dhabi’s tourist numbers proves that the Tourism Strategy 2030 rolled out earlier this year is working as the economy diversifies. The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), is leading the city’s tourism ambitions, which seeks to drive visitor numbers from nearly 24 million in 2023 to 39.3 million by 2030 (overnight and same-day), with a 7% year-on-year growth.
Abu Dhabi’s tourism and travel sector’s contribution to the UAE’s GDP is also forecast to rise from Dh49 billion in 2023 to Dh90 billion in six years.
The emirate aims to create 178,000 new jobs by 2030 when tourism infrastructure is developed and facilities are built to meet the visitor influx.
International overnight visitors are expected to double from 3.8 million in 2023 to 7.2 million in 2030, while hotel rooms will increase from 34,000 in 2023 to 52,000 by the end of the decade.
