Abu Dhabi hotel rates rise above $200 mark with more travellers coming in

The Yas Viceroy hotel on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. Silvia Razgova / The National

Abu Dhabi hotel room rates have broken through the US$200 barrier, helped by rising passenger numbers through the airport.

The average room rate in the emirate’s four- and five-star hotels touched $206.32 with an occupancy rate of 84 per cent last month, according to HotStats data. That was up from $162.37 and an occupancy rate of 80 per cent in the same month last year.

Room rates have started to increase with strong demand, said Chris Hewett, a senior consultant at TRI Consulting.

“I would say that it is premature to start indicating that the rates between Dubai and Abu Dhabi are narrowing at this stage, however we do foresee this to start occurring in the second half of the year,” he said.

But the addition of 3,000 new rooms in the emirate this year could act as a brake on average daily room rate growth.

As of January, Abu Dhabi had 102 hotels with 22,205 rooms. There were 58 hotel apartments with 6,366 rooms.

While Abu Dhabi room rates inch higher, Dubai is showing signs of cooling down.

Dubai room rates were $364.31 with an occupancy rate of 88.5 per cent in February, compared to $369.90 and 87.4 per cent in the same month last year.

The rapid expansion of Etihad Airways and campaigns by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority in key source markets such as India, Saudi Arabia and Europe are among the key drivers in the growth of tourism in the capital.

Passenger traffic through Abu Dhabi International Airport grew 20 per cent to 20 million passengers last year – a record for the airport.

Airport authorities forecast similar passenger traffic this year.

In February, the airport recorded 21.5 per cent growth compared to the same period last year.

“The epicentre of the world has moved to pretty much where we are now,” said Ahmad Al Haddabi, the chief operations officer at Abu Dhabi Airports. “Travellers from Asia, Europe and Africa could discover a genuine leisure haven, with attractions for every taste in the emirate.”

However, one hurdle that tourism chiefs will need to overcome is the comparatively short average stay, which fell 4 per cent last year to 2.99 nights.

TCA Abu Dhabi has teamed up with 15 hotel groups accounting for 60 of the emirate’s four- and five-star hotels to tackle the issue.