Hospitality sector expands in capital

Abu Dhabi saw hotels and hotel apartments increase by around 5.5 per cent last year compared to 2009, with the number rising to 116. According to the latest data compiled by the Abu Dhabi Statistics Centre (SCAD), the number of guests in hotel and serviced apartments in the UAE capital rose about 17.7 per cent last year, an increase that was accompanied by a rise in the number of available rooms, which stood at 18,800 in 2010, SCAD said in a statement. It added that the latest economic data include the number of hotel establishments and rooms, number of guests by nationality, number of guest nights and average length of stay, in addition to the annual and monthly occupancy rates in 2010. However, because the rise in the number of hotels and rooms was greater than the rise in the number of guests last year, the annual occupancy rate dropped from 72.2 per cent in 2009 to 64.7 per cent, according to SCAD estimates. Article continues below Target exceeded At the same time, according to 2010 data released by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) in January, the capital beat its hotel guest target last year by eight per cent, as some 1.81 million stayed in the hotels and hotel apartments. ADTA said in May that significant increases in hotel guests, occupancies and revenues were helping Abu Dhabi inch closer to achieving its stretched target of receiving two million guests in 2011. The tourism body said the number of guests staying in the hotels and hotel apartments increased 10 per cent to 694,181 in the first four months of this year compared to the same period in 2010. The total revenues of hotels dropped marginally in 2010 compared with the previous year, according to the SCAD study. The statistics body said that the decline in revenues "could be due to the competitive prices" offered as a result of the increase in the number of hotels and the consequent rise in the number of rooms. Tracing the pattern of Abu Dhabi hotel occupancy rates during 2010, SCAD data revealed that they rose in the winter months and decreased in summer.