United Arab Emirates Tourism Report Released

After a difficult year for tourism in 2009, particularly in terms of foreign visitor arrivals, the recovery in the sector in the latter part of the year has continued into 2010. In Abu Dhabi in the first four months of 2010, there was a 16 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in tourist numbers to over 620,000 (including strong domestic tourism).

In Sharjah, 402,000 tourists stayed in the emirate’s hotels and apartments in Q110, a rebound of just over 9 percent y-o-y. In Dubai, although final data on arrivals for 2009 is still pending, there is some evidence that last year’s downturn may have bottomed out in the early months of 2010.

Despite incomplete 2009 hospitality sector data, press releases indicate a tentative recovery in occupancy rates and revenue per available room at some of Dubai’s hotels in Q110. After a rebound in Q409, data from Abu Dhabi for January-April 2010 show over 1.68mn guest nights, up by a healthy 10 percent y-o-y.