Abu Dhabi witnesses 81 per cent occupancy during Eid Al Adha 2018

Abu Dhabi witnessed 81 per cent average occupancy during the four days of Eid Al Adha, which saw a surge in visitors from both the UAE and further afield, including the Emiratis, Saudis, Indians, British and Americans.

The hotel occupancy rates in Abu Dhabi during Eid Al Adha 2018 averaged 81 per cent across the 4 days from Tuesday, August 21 (the start of Eid) to Friday, August 24, the department of culture and tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) said in a release.

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This represented a 6 per centage point increase compared to the average occupancy figure of 75 per cent during Eid Al Adha in 2017.

The highest occupancy rate (87 per cent) was recorded on the second day of Eid.

This exceptional holiday period saw a surge in visitors from both the UAE and further afield, with Emiratis, Saudis, Indians, British and Americans making up 55 per cent of total visitors.

“Once again, Abu Dhabi demonstrates its position as a leading tourism destination for visitors from the region and beyond. We are making strong progress in achieving our forecast guest arrivals growth for the year. Eid Al Adha provided further impetus as the capital welcomed a record-breaking number of visitors, with many of our leading hotels achieving near full occupancy with tourists choosing Abu Dhabi as the place to spend their holiday,” DCT Abu Dhabi undersecretary Saif Saeed Ghobash said.

Meanwhile, in terms of occupancy rate, the highest was achieved by 4-star hotels (88 per cent).

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Compared to Eid Al Adha 2017, 5-star and 4-star hotels experienced a significant increase in occupancy rate.  Occupancy across 5-star hotels increased by 9 per cent while 4-star hotels reported an increase of 8 per cent.

During these four days, the leading nationalities welcomed by the capital included Saudis (9 per cent), Indians (8 per cent), British (8 per cent) and Americans (4 per cent) in addition to other international visitors.