Abu Dhabi’s hotels have posted remarkable year-on-year growth in the 2nd Quarter of 2019, with hotel guest numbers reaching a record 1.2 million for the April to June period, a 6.8 percent increase from the same period in 2018.
The latest report from the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) also shows that total hotel revenues for the 2nd Quarter were up to AED 1.2 billion, a rise of 3.7% from the previous year.
Year-to-Date, YTD, metrics for 2019 also show strong improvement, with hotel guest numbers reaching 2.5 million, a rise of 3.5 percent from 2018, and hotel revenues of AED2.9 billion, a 10.6 percent rise. For 2019 so far, the statistics also show double-digit growth in other key indicators, including an increase in Room Revenues of 17.6 percent; Revenue Per Available Room rising by 10.7 percent, and Average Room Rate rising by 10.2 percent.
The figures also show that the emirate’s key attractions have had a successful year, attracting the highest number of sightseers and thrill-seekers than ever before. Visits to key attractions were up 50 percent, primarily due to a 62 percent increase in visitors to theme and leisure parks, in addition to a 21.5 percent growth at cultural and historical sites, and a 22 percent increase at museums.
“These impressive results, both in the second quarter and the year as a whole, are a result of the hard work and dedication of every stakeholder, entity and trade partner involved in Abu Dhabi’s tourism value chain, with DCT Abu Dhabi underpinning this drive for excellence with its implementation of a structured and diversified calendar of world-class events,” said Saif Saeed Ghobash, Under-Secretary of DCT Abu Dhabi.
“These results for the year have been underpinned by some truly exceptional results in June. For example, our guest numbers in June were up 24.6 percent compared to the same month last year, while our Revenue Per Available Room was also up 23.8 percent.
In the 2nd Quarter of 2019, there was an impressive increase in hotel guests from several key international markets, with guest numbers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia up 23.6%, India rising by 15.8%, and other key markets such as the UK and USA also showing positive growth.
Underpinning the increases was the strong growth in various regions of Abu Dhabi, with the statistics showing hotels in Al Dhafra Region performing particularly well in Q2 2019, seeing a 10.3 percent increase in guest numbers, an 18.7 percent increase in Revenue Per Available Room, and a 12.3 percent increase in Average Room Rate.
Additionally, guest numbers in Al Ain were up 9.9 percent, and 6.4 percent in Abu Dhabi.
Of the various districts of Abu Dhabi, hotels in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, ADNEC, area were among the best performers, recording 73 percent occupancy, a rise of 11.9 percent from last 2018, while guest numbers were up 10.2 percent. These were boosted by an increase in the number of key international visitors, such as a 31 percent increase from China, a 29.8 percent increase from India, and a 20.1 percent increase from Saudi Arabia.
In ADNEC’s hotels in the YTD, Occupancy reached 81 percent, up 11.3 percent, guest numbers rose 15.9 percent, and Revenues were up even further by 26 percent.
Saadiyat Island’s hotels have also performed exceptionally well this year. Here, guest numbers rose an astounding 83.5 percent, Occupancy Rates were up 26.1 percent, Revenues by 73.4 percent, and Revenue Per Available Room by 30.9 percent.
In the YTD, guest numbers were up by 105 percent and Revenues by 71.3 percent. During this time, visitors from Russia were up 242.8 percent, the UK by 144.5 percent, and Kazakhstan an astounding 1,595 percent.
