Abu Dhabi hotel occupancy up 10%

Hotels in Abu Dhabi received 866,501 guests in the first five months of this year, a 10 per cent increase over the same period last year, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said on Monday. It added that hotels in the UAE capital achieved increases in guest nights, occupancy levels, revenues and length-of-stay in the period January to May. The news comes a day after the Abu Dhabi Statistics Centre (SCAD) released data stating Abu Dhabi had achieved a 5.5 per cent increase in hotels and hotel apartments in 2010 over the previous year. The SCAD estimates also pointed out that the number of guests in Abu Dhabi's hotel and serviced apartments rose 17.7 per cent last year, an increase that was accompanied by a rise in the number of available rooms, which stood at 18,800. Article continues below According to the ADTA estimates for the first five months of the year, occupancy in Abu Dhabi hotels increased 10 per cent to 71 per cent over the corresponding period in 2010, while revenues were up six per cent to Dh1.9 billion. The average length of stay, meanwhile, increased by 15 per cent to just over three nights, according to ADTA estimates. Rooms double Clearly, Abu Dhabi hotels have been seeing an uptake in demand with the number of rooms having doubled over the last 20 months, as market experts point out. "But even so, we saw the occupancy going up to 67 per cent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the 55 per cent occupancy in the same period last year for Abu Dhabi hotels," Alex Kyriakidis, Global Managing Director for Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure, Deloitte & Touche (Middle East), recently told Gulf News. He added that Abu Dhabi hotels have taken a decision to "lower the room rate" in order to stimulate the market and attract more visitors. ADTA's strategy and policy director Lawrence Franklin seems to be in agreement: "Increased destination competitiveness with average room rates falling 15 per cent year-on-year for high quality product has contributed to our appeal." He added that hotel stays in Abu Dhabi are now "more affordable" than other established upscale destinations including Dubai, Paris, Sydney, New York, Rome and Tokyo. The tourism authority said in May that significant increases in hotel guests, occupancies and revenues are helping the capital inch closer to achieving its stretched target of hosting two million guests this year. British visitors Guests from the UK, meanwhile, led the hotel occupancy numbers from January-May with 62,022 having stayed in the hotels, a 17 per cent increase over the first five months of 2010, according to ADTA data. Other markets to follow included India (with guest numbers up 22 per cent); Germany (15 per cent); Saudi Arabia (39 per cent); France (33 per cent); Italy (20 per cent); Russia (46 per cent); and Kuwait (14 per cent). Abu Dhabi's growth in hospitality is being further fuelled extensively by Etihad as the national carrier continues its aggressive expansion to new markets, thereby flying in more hotel guests from a wider network. As ADTA's Franklin points out: "We anticipate accrued benefits from increased air uplift such as Etihad's planned upscaling of its Manchester-Abu Dhabi frequencies to twice daily from August, and the recent launch of Cathay Pacific's four times a week services from Hong Kong."