A significant increase in the number of visitors from China and Saudi Arabia fuelled a surge in the number of hotel guests in Abu Dhabi last month.
A total of 198,139 guests stayed in Abu Dhabi in January, 29 per cent more than in the same month last year, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Tourism and Culture said.
An events and conferences calendar, which included the Volvo Ocean Race, the HSBC Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and the World Future Energy Summit helped to boost numbers, the authority said.
"Stays are also likely to have benefited from increased air access to [Abu Dhabi]," said Mubarak Al Muhairi, the director general of the Abu Dhabi Authority Tourism and Culture.
Arrivals were up 235 per cent from China, with 4,407 visitors from the country.
There was also a 218 per cent increase in the number of guests from Saudi Arabia to 8,574.
Total revenue at Abu Dhabi's hotels rose 11 per cent last month compared with the same month a year earlier to Dh408 million (US$111m), the authority reported.
Average nightly room rates were down by 6 per cent to Dh503.
Food-and-beverage revenue increased by 18 per cent to Dh155.3m. Hotel occupancy remained the same as January last year at 66 per cent.
Several hotels have opened in recent months, including the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers on the Corniche and the Park Hyatt on Saadiyat Island.
Increased competition means that individual hotels are not necessarily experiencing revenue growth, said Christophe Landais, the managing director of Accor, which manages the Mercure hotel, formerly the Novotel, in the capital. "Occupancy is being maintained, but the rates are affected. Abu Dhabi had more visitors, but the cake has been spread over much more players than before."
