Abu Dhabi issued its bulletin on hotel establishments in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi for the period 2009/2010, which includes the latest economic indicators related to the hotels and tourism sector in all regions of the emirate during the past two years, such as the number of hotel establishments and rooms, number of guests by nationality, number of guest nights, average length of stay, in addition to the annual and monthly occupancy rates the for these establishments.

In this regard SCAD pointed out that the statistics set forth in bulletin are the result of fruitful cooperation between the Statistics Centre and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), calling for its continuance in all avenues to serve the development strategies of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in all aspects.

The bulleting emphasizes the need to the growing need to diversify the emirate’s non-oil economy, noting the rising interest in tourism and the diversity of nationalities and cultures from all over the world in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in addition to the multiplicity of activities, both Arab and international that chose the Emirate as their venue in the recent years. This has led to an increasingly robust tourism movement high movement, especially in winter, i.e. from November until late March, when people arrive from countries around the world to visit relatives and see the various tourist attractions of the Emirate. This dynamic sector has therefore been given priority on the agenda of Abu Dhabi government for diversification of the economy and the sources of income as it is poised to play a substantial role in the strategy to attain the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030.

Hotel establishments and high quality hospitality services are considered an instrumental in boosting the tourist appeal of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which adopts top class hotel standards, with this seen as a basic factor in the development of tourism in the Emirate.

Hotel Establishments Data presented in the bulletin indicate a steady increase in the number of hotel establishments in recent years, with their total number rising to 116 establishments in 2010, marking an increase of about 5.5% compared with the year 2009. This rise was accompanied by an evident increase in the number of hotel rooms, which grew by 1740 rooms in 2010 to 18.8 thousand rooms. The number of guests in 2010 was about 1.812 thousand guests, up 17.7% over the previous year.

Since the rise in the number of hotel establishments and hotel rooms was greater than the rise in the number of guests, the annual occupancy rate dropped from 72.2% in 2009 to 64.7% in 2010.

SCAD’s bulletin reported an increase of 19% in guest nights for 2010 compared with the previous year. The average length of stay (which refers to the total number of guest nights divided by the total number of guests during the study period), however, increased by only 0.03 night.

The data also shows that the number of rooms in hotels is 1.5 times as large as the number of rooms in hotel apartments. In addition, the average length of stay in hotel apartments is more than two nights longer than that in hotel apartments. Moreover, the occupancy rate for hotel apartments is higher than hotels i.e. guests prefer hotel apartments to hotels, which may be attributed to the fact that average rents per room in hotel apartments are lower than those of hotels rooms.

The bulletin also reveals that the shows that the largest proportion of guests (81.4%) stayed in Abu Dhabi region, compared to 14.5% in Al Ain and 4.1% in the Western Region. The average length of stay is longer in Abu Dhabi (3.04 nights) compared to 1.79 nights in Al Ain and 2.76 nights in the Western Region.

More Guests Hosted

According to SCAD’s bulletin, the total number of guests in 2010 reached 1,812 thousand, which marks an increase of 17.6% compared with 2009.

The data also indicates that Emirati nationals constituted the majority of guests, making up 41.5% of the total guests, followed by guests from Europe with a percentage of 17.5%. The fewest numbers of guests were from Africa, excluding Arab countries, contributing less than 1% of the total number of guests for 2010, followed by guests from Australia and the Pacific, who accounted for 1.7% of total guests during 2010.

SCAD’s data shows that the percentage change in the number of guests by nationality has generally been positive for all nationalities except for European nationalities, which decreased slightly (by less than 3%). As for the other nationalities, the percentage change in the number of guests was 25% for Asian guests, excluding Arabs, 23% for the other Arab nationalities, 13.6% for Emirati nationals and 14.4% for from guests North and Latin America.

With regard to the number of guests by hotel classification, the study results reveal that more than one third of guests (34.3%) prefer to stay in five-star hotels, followed by guests who prefer three-star or hotels of lower classification (25.2%), then guests of four-star hotels (20.7%) and finally, guests of hotel apartments (19.8%).

A distribution of guests by detailed hotel classification and nationality indicates that 44.8% of guests from North and South America preferred to stay in five-star hotels, while 55.2% stayed in four-star hotels or hotels of lower classification. Guests from European countries followed with a percentage of 42.8% residing in five-star hotels compared to 57.2% staying in four-star hotels or hotels of lower classification. Guests from Asian countries, excluding Arabs, and guests from Arab countries preferred three-star hotels or hotels of lower classification at percentages of 36.6% and 35.5% respectively.

The study shows that the number of guests increases in winter between the months of February and May as well as at the beginning of the year and in November by the end of the year, when the climate is moderate and a wide range of events take place in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. However, numbers of guests tend to decrease in summer, starting from the beginning of June till they reach their lowest level in August, when the temperature in the emirate is often extremely high.

We accept Guest Posts

Download the Dubai City Guide iPhone mobile app

DubaiCityGuide.com is owned and managed by Cyber Gear