3.6% Growth in hotel occupancy in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Media In – Abu Dhabi – 4 October 2018

–  The number of foreign tourists in Abu Dhabi and Dubai increased by 1.5 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period of 2017. The increase in the number of nights occupancy of rooms in hotel establishments by 3.6% according to the latest official statistics to monitor the tourism activity in the UAE. The number of tourists from Russia increased by 74.1% during the first half of this year following the relaxation of tourist visa rules, despite the high exchange rate of the UAE Dirham against the ruble. The number of tourists from China and Germany increased by 11.6 percent and 12.9 percent respectively in January-June this year, despite the slight rise in the exchange rate of the UAE currency against the two countries. On the level of tourism from India, it increased by 5.1% during the first half of the year for the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, after the limited decline in the value of the dirham against the rupee. In the Emirate of Dubai, the number of foreign visitors rose by 5.9% in the first half of this year compared with the same period of 2017, hotel room occupancy increased by 5.6% and the duration of stay of guests by 1% during the monitoring period. In Abu Dhabi, the number of foreign visitors increased by 4.9% between January and May of this year compared to the same period of 2017. Most of the countries that are the main markets for tourism to Dubai registered an increase in the number of arrivals. The list of tourists comes from Russia followed by the German nationality campaign. The vast majority of tourists to Dubai come from the GCC countries, the Middle East region (17%) and North Africa (12%), while Western Europe and North America accounted for 21% and 18% of tourists from South Asia. In Abu Dhabi, most of the countries that are the main markets for incoming tourism in the emirate also registered an increase in the number of guests coming in. The Russian nationality campaign is up 76%, French 36%, American 25.5%, Hindi 19%, German 17.3% and Chinese 15.8%.