Figures released by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi reveal 9.8% annual rise
A record 4.875 million people stayed in Abu Dhabi’s 162 hotels and hotel apartments during 2017, representing a 9.8 percent year-on-year rise.
Figures released by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi revealed that the number of guests staying in Abu Dhabi city during the year rose by 10.3 percent to 4,295,030 while the Al Ain region recorded a 5.5 percent increase to 450,328 and the Al Dhafra region rose 8.2 percent to 130,180.
Saif Saeed Ghobash, director general, said: “Record numbers of people are visiting Abu Dhabi year after year and we continue to go from strength to strength in positioning ourselves as a distinctive global tourist destination steeped in culture and heritage.
“Abu Dhabi’s unique cultural archetypes, combined with diverse natural landscapes, cultural and historic sites, dynamic family-leisure entertainment and ambitious business opportunities, will continue to stimulate visitation and help us grow by 11 percent per annum to achieve 8.5 million visitors by 2021.”
Throughout 2017, key overseas markets continued to perform well with guests from China surging year-on-year by 60 percent to number more than 372,000 to be Abu Dhabi’s largest overseas source market. The numbers swelled after the easing of visa restrictions with Chinese visitors now receiving visas on entry in the UAE.
India is the second largest international source market with more than 360,000 guests recorded during the 12 months, an increase of 11 percent, followed by the United Kingdom.
Domestic tourism from within the UAE increased 2.6 percent to number slightly over 1.5 million hotel guests.
A particularly strong December - following the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi - saw 480,845 guests staying in the emirate, a 17.6 percent rise compared to the corresponding month in 2016.
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