
The national tourism authority in Abu Dhabi published figures for arrivals and nights for the first six months of the year, and the Emirate, which posts very positive trends for the hotel industry as well, may rejoice over this excellent first semester.
Increased arrivals naturally affected hotel activity in Abu Dhabi, as data from MKG Hospitality shows. The first quarter 2014 was, in fact, positive for the industry in the Emirate, with 4.6 points growth in occupancy rates. Abu Dhabi is the only one of the United Arab Emirates Unis to have succeeded in increasing occupancy at its properties. The strong occupancy rates make it possible to compensate for the 4.6% drop in average daily rates so the Revenue per available room (RevPAR) is nonetheless up by 1.2% on the first six months of the year (to 527.9 Emirati dirham, or around 109 euros).
In June alone, the dynamic is particularly positive. With 264,203 arrivals, the occupancy at the destination is up by 14% over June 2013. The result of this increase in arrivals was beneficial to hotel professionals. In June, the RevPar is up by 13.8% thanks to the 5.4% increase in average daily rates and 5.5 points growth in occupancy rate.
The dynamism of tourism in Abu Dhabi seduces players on the international hotel market such as IHG, and the appeal of the destination should be reinforced by the forthcoming openings of the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Guggenheim Museum. Several major international events have been scheduled allowing the Emirate to forecast 3.2 million foreign visitors across 2014.