Abu Dhabi guest rates rise 17.7% in 2010
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A new report focusing on Abu Dhabi’s booming hotel sector has revealed that the UAE capital’s available hotel rooms increased by 1740 in 2010, while the total number of hotels operating in the emirate rose to 116, up 5.5% on 2009.The report, which was compiled by Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi, found the number of guests staying in the emirate in 2010 rose 17.7% to 1,812,000 guests, up 17.7% over the previous year.Since the rise in the number of hotel establishments and hotel rooms was greater than the rise in the number of guests, the annual occupancy rate dropped from 72.2% in 2009 to 64.7% in 2010.SCAD’s bulletin reported an increase of 19% in guest nights for 2010 compared with the previous year. The average length of stay, however, increased by only 0.03 night.The data also shows that the number of rooms in hotels is 1.5 times as large as the number of rooms in hotel apartments. In addition, the average length of stay in hotel apartments is more than two nights longer than that in hotel apartments. Moreover, the occupancy rate for hotel apartments is higher than hotels i.e. guests prefer hotel apartments to hotels, which may be attributed to the fact that average rents per room in hotel apartments are lower than those of hotels rooms.The bulletin also reveals that the largest proportion of guests (81.4%) stayed in Abu Dhabi region, compared to 14.5% in Al Ain and 4.1% in the Western Region. The average length of stay is longer in Abu Dhabi (3.04 nights) compared to 1.79 nights in Al Ain and 2.76 nights in the Western Region. The data also indicates that Emirati nationals constituted the majority of guests, making up 41.5% of the total guests, followed by guests from Europe with a percentage of 17.5%. The fewest numbers of guests were from Africa, excluding Arab countries, contributing less than 1% of the total number of guests for 2010, followed by guests from Australia and the Pacific, who accounted for 1.7% of total guests during 2010.SCAD’s data shows that the percentage change in the number of guests by nationality has generally been positive for all nationalities except for European nationalities, which decreased slightly (by less than 3%). As for the other nationalities, the percentage change in the number of guests was 25% for Asian guests, excluding Arabs, 23% for the other Arab nationalities, 13.6% for Emirati nationals and 14.4% for from guests North and Latin America.With regard to the number of guests by hotel classification, the study results reveal that more than one third of guests (34.3%) prefer to stay in five-star hotels, followed by guests who prefer three-star or hotels of lower classification (25.2%), then guests of four-star hotels (20.7%) and finally, guests of hotel apartments (19.8%).A distribution of guests by detailed hotel classification and nationality indicates that 44.8% of guests from North and South America preferred to stay in five-star hotels, while 55.2% stayed in four-star hotels or hotels of lower classification. Guests from European countries followed with a percentage of 42.8% residing in five-star hotels compared to 57.2% staying in four-star hotels or hotels of lower classification. Guests from Asian countries, excluding Arabs, and guests from Arab countries preferred three-star hotels or hotels of lower classification at percentages of 36.6% and 35.5% respectively.According SCAD’s study, the total revenues of hotel establishments dropped marginally in 2010 compared with the previous year. The decline in the total revenues could be due to the competitive prices offered as a result of the increase in the number of hotel establishments and the consequent rise in the number of rooms.
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