Abu Dhabi, UAE– Hotels across Abu Dhabi have posted a 24 percent growth in occupancy to 4.1 million visitors during 2022, according to data shared by the Department of Culture and Tourism.
Hotel revenues climbed by 23% from the previous year to $1.47 billion in 2022.
The statistics showed that Abu Dhabi hotels recorded occupancy rates of 70% during the reference year, a growth of 0.2% compared to 2021.The average hotel stay for guests was about 3 nights per guest, and the average revenue per available room was AED263, up 19%.
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UAE nationals accounted for the largest share of the capital’s hotel guests during the past year, with a share of 29%, or the equivalent of 1.182 million guests.
Indian nationalities led all other non-Emiratis with a share of 12%, or the equivalent of 480,000 visitors, up 31% from the same period in 2021. The nationals of Britain, Egypt, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia followed with a share of 4% each.
Occupancy rates improved as the number of hotel guests in the UAE rose 42 per cent, year on year, to 12 million during the first half of 2022, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, said in a tweet.
The UAE tourism sector’s revenue exceeded Dh19bn during the first six months of this year and the expectations are for “strong tourism performance in this winter season”, he said.
“Our indicators today are stronger than our indicators before the pandemic, and our economic growth is faster than before the pandemic, and our tourism, commercial and development sectors are larger than before the pandemic,” Sheikh Mohammed said on Twitter.
The UAE economy expanded by 8.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, exceeding initial estimates, as higher oil prices, a recovery in tourism, a buoyant property sector and successful Covid-19 mitigation measures set it up for the fastest annual growth since 2011.
The pace of gross domestic product growth in the first quarter was significantly sharper than the 2.1 per cent pre-pandemic GDP level.
