Nearly two million visitors arrived into Abu Dhabi in the first six months of 2015, putting the destination on track to achieving its goal of 3.9 million guests for the year, according to the latest figures released by Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.
The arrival numbers signalled a 17 per cent rise on the corresponding period in 2014, with a collective 5,728,765 guest nights generated in the emirate’s 163 hotel and hotel apartment properties, an increase of 11 per cent on last year.
Total revenues for hotel establishments jumped eight per cent to $1.25 billion, however the average length of stay decreased five per cent when compared to the first six months of last year.
Australia ranks in the top 12 of Abu Dhabi’s international source markets, with the top spot being taken out by India, closely followed by the UK and China.
“We set ourselves a challenging guest arrivals target of 3.9 million hotel guests for this year, which we are very confidentof achieving, especially given that our highly impressive half-year figures show double digit growth,” said Jasem Al Darmaki, acting director general of the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.
“We remain committed to actively improve the average length of stay of our guests which has fallen by five per cent over the comparable period in 2014.
“We have a series of high-profile events coming up to entice our guests to spend more time here including our new extended 2015/16 season of Abu Dhabi Classics, the annual F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Art, and anticipate the traditionally strong second half of the year performance will pull average length of stay back up closer to three nights.”
