Abu Dhabi has not made any changes to its 2030 tourism strategy despite the current war uncertainty, with all its long-term plans still in place, its tourism chief said.
The emirate, which attracted 26.2 million visitors last year, aims to increase that to 39.3 million by 2030, while also boosting the sector’s GDP contribution to Dh90 billion ($24.5 billion) by the end of the decade.
“Our trajectory stays the same, it has not changed,” Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi told The National in an interview.
“Our tourism strategy and all our strategies are all long term, and they're all data driven. So these are not numbers that we make up.
“We work very closely with all our stakeholders, whether it's Etihad, whether it's the airport and all the other players, the different DMCs [destination management companies], different tour operators, to come up with these sorts of numbers,” he said. “We put all this together in a blender, and we come up with these numbers.”
Hospitality is a key factor, with hotels last year reaching more than 85 per cent occupancy, he added. “We're really starting to reach our threshold. In the next three, four years, a significant amount of new hotel rooms are going to hit the market that are going to help enhance our numbers.”
The Iran war, which began on February 28, has severely disrupted the region’s aviation, tourism and hospitality sectors after initial closures of airports and airspace. Operations were gradually reintroduced and have now been largely restored.
“At the moment, we are in a difficult situation. But the fact of the matter is, because the fundamentals are so strong, occupancy during this period of the hotels here in Abu Dhabi was at 56 per cent,” Mr Al Mubarak said.
All museums, theme parks, shopping malls, “everything remained open, because what's critical for us, no matter what comes our way, the direction from leadership is the quality of life of the citizens and the residents of the United Arab Emirates and the tourists that are here remains the same”, he added.
“Most people would think that a situation like this would completely demoralise your ecosystem. On the contrary, it has not. We hear the word 'resilient' quite a lot - I really focus more on sustainability. To sustain during a difficult time like this.”
Roadblocks have come before, such as the Covid pandemic and several economic downturns, Mr Al Mubarak pointed out, saying: “Every time, we have taken a step back, learnt and understood how we cannot only bypass this moment but how we can get stronger from it”.
At present, the DCT continues to monitor the situation closely. “Month in, month out, we're going to be fluid. The situation that has happened during the last couple of months will have us re-evaluate our business planning. But the long-term efforts have not changed,” he stressed.
Higher visitor numbers
With Etihad Airways continuing to launch new routes, especially to markets in Africa and Asia, the official is confident of high visitor traffic. “Africa, for example, is a brand new partner for us that is going to bring in thousands and thousands of tourists to Abu Dhabi.”
New attractions coming up in the emirate are also expected to significantly boost its appeal to visitors.
On Thursday, the DCT confirmed that the Sphere Abu Dhabi will open by the end of 2029, with the 20,000-capacity venue set to add to the offerings at Yas Island. Plans for Disney Abu Dhabi – the entertainment giant’s first theme park in the Middle East – were unveiled last year. A Harry Potter-themed land is also under development as part of a major expansion of Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi.
Mr Al Mubarak said the UAE capital remained focused on long-term international partnerships and a new one could be revealed soon.
