The Arabian Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi is a magnet for Asian travellers, attracted by its numerous attractions, events and golf courses, with their numbers increasing by double digit in the first eight months of this year.
Statistics from the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) showed 313,221 Asian guests stayed in the emirate’s 146 hotels and hotel apartments from January to August – a hike of 26% over the same period in 2012. In total they contributed a million room nights, up 34% from 2012.
Pictured left: Capital Gate – ‘World’s Furthest Leaning Man Made Tower (Guinness World Records)
China topped the hotels’ guest list with 27,378 checking into Abu Dhabi accommodation generating 50,246 room nights (+43% year-on-year); South Korea was second with 9,879 guests, 25,712 room nights (+45% y-o-y), followed by Japan with 8,158 guests, 24,680 room nights (+13% y-o-y)
To further tap the burgeoning Asian outbound travel market, TCA Abu Dhabi and industry players are stepping up their marketing efforts with a number of initiatives, one of which is participation at ITB Asia in Singapore (October 23-25) with a seven-strong delegatio
Mubarak Al Nuaimi, TCA Abu Dhabi’s director promotions & overseas offices, said the NTO’s thrust at the mart would be dual-pronged.
“On the leisure front we will be out to get the message across that there is now so much to do and see in Abu Dhabi given a strong surge in our hotel and resort portfolio, the opening of new attractions, including stunning malls selling at tax-free prices and a powerful line-up of major sporting and entertainment events.
Pictured right: Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal
“We also want to correctly position the destination as a luxury yet highly affordable choice where the average room rate is currently running at just under US$120. Currently Asian guests are staying with us, on average, for just over three nights and we’d like to see this increase and now have the product base to make it happen.”
One of the challenges for TCA Abu Dhabi is to increase the length of stay of Chinese visitors, which is currently less than two nights.
“We are working closely with our stakeholders to provide specific tailored product for these guests,” added Mubarak.
South Koreans, on the other hand, stay longer as they enjoy golfing and Abu Dhabi’s expansive and diverse golf offering is an attraction for them.
“Golf is proving productive for us with figures revealing that our trio of world-class, championship-ready golf courses hosted a record number of overseas rounds in Q1 this year,” said Al Nuaimi.
To spearhead the promotion of golf the emirate has set up Golf in Abu Dhabi, an initiative designed to execute golf tourism strategy, maximise revenue returns for related stakeholders, and position Abu Dhabi in the minds of potential golf customers from primary source markets such as the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, China, Korea and Japan.
Pictured left: Yas Links Abu Dhabi
Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau, formed earlier this year, will drive business tourism.
‘We have had some successes from Asia, and are now focusing on promoting our Quick Win Advantage Abu Dhabi programme for corporate meetings and incentives. We are receiving a number of enquiries from Asia, mainly from the IT and pharmaceutical sectors in India, Pakistan and Singapore,” said Al Nuaimi.
In a related development, TCA Abu Dhabi will introduce a Korean version of VisitAbuDhabi.ae, the emirate’s official online portal for travel and tourism information.
Al Nuaimi said this was in the plannng for early next year, and Korean would be its 10th language for the site. It is currently available in English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese.
