The arrival of international tourists in Abu Dhabi is increasing high with the influx of 350,000 visitors in cruise sector in 2018. The emirate’s cultural assets also attracted more than 2,672,732 people to the emirate.
The figures released by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) have shown more than 10 million visitors came to experience the UAE capital last year, made up of both day-trippers and overnight guests, with these hotel guests increasing by 3.94% compared to 2017 at one of the emirate’s 168 hotels or hotel apartments. In the last three years, Abu Dhabi has posted record numbers of hotel guests every year, regularly exceeding DCT Abu Dhabi’s annual targets.
The key markets of India, the US and China have all posted double-digit growth for hotel guests in 2018. India and China remain the two top markets for overseas visitors, with the UK – the top European source market – rounding out the top three markets for overseas visitors.
HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman at DCT Abu Dhabi, said that in past three years, they have seen countless significant additions to Abu Dhabi’s structural, touristic and cultural landscape. Most prominent amongst these include the recent reopening of the Al Hosn cultural site, which now offers visitors new experiences of heritage and artistic creativity, and the stunning Louvre Abu Dhabi. The annual Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has gone from strength to strength, and has attracted millions of visitors to the Emirate since it launched in 2009. He also said that the entertainment options have also proved popular with Abu Dhabi’s overseas visitors. In the last three years the infrastructure has been boosted with many new additions, including Warner Bros World, which has added a new dimension to the entertainment offerings on Yas Island, which is in itself a massive success story for the emirate.
On the business side they had considerable success, with the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau continuing to secure high-profile conferences and events for the emirate, further establishing us on the global business world’s radar. Since 2009, they have welcomed thousands of delegates from overseas to our conferences, meetings and exhibitions, which have included such notable successes as the World Skills event, which took place in 2017 and attracted more than 100,000 visitors to Abu Dhabi from a multitude of overseas schools and universities.
They have courted cruise tourism with the opening of the new Mina Port and the Bani Yas Island beach cruise stopover.
Tags: Abu Dhabi, cruise tourism, Mina Port
