Year-end festivities pack hotels across Abu Dhabi

The Coldplay concert at du Arena on New Years Eve helped hotels on Yas Island to their strongest numbers for this holiday period. Navin Khianey for The National

Year-end concerts, a snow park and food-and-beverage promotions helped to lift hotel occupancy in Abu Dhabi to near-full levels during the long New Year weekend.

This performance contrasts with the earlier part of last year, when room rates dropped and occupancy declined owing to an oversupply of hotels amid weak economic growth.

Many of Abu Dhabi’s top-tier hotels were full, including the Beach Rotana, Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri, Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche and InterContinental Abu Dhabi, according to the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi).

“The sheer diversity of top-tier events and entertainments on offer in Abu Dhabi to celebrate New Year [contributed] to a boost in visitor numbers to the emirate during this period,” the tourism agency said.

The New Year’s Eve concert by rock band Coldplay at du Arena on Yas Island pulled in an estimated 30,000 people. The waterfront promenade on Al Maryah Island featured separate concerts by Emirati singer Hussain Al Jasmi, the Egyptian pop singer Mohammad Hamaki and Palestinian star Mohammad Assaf.

“This was the strongest New Year’s Eve we have had since opening, which was in 2009, and this was mainly due to the Coldplay concert,” said Craig Bruce, the general manager for Yas Island Rotana and Centro Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The average room rate at the properties recorded a 50 per cent increase over the same period last year, and the properties were full.

Most of the hotel guests were from within the UAE, here for the New Year celebrations, Mr Bruce said. “December was good in general, as we sold packages with the theme parks and had a strong Christmas week,” he said. Most of the guests during Christmas were from the UK and Germany.

During the year through to November, the total number of tourists checking into Abu Dhabi’s hotels and hotel apartments increased to 4.02 million guests, an 8 per cent increase compared with the same period a year ago, according to TCA Abu Dhabi.

Hotels in the capital, similar to properties in Dubai, had recorded a drop in room rates in response to higher competition from new hotels in the cities at a time when the low oil prices and slow economy hit the number of corporate guests visiting.

In November, the average occupancy rate across Abu Dhabi was 81 per cent, a 3.1 per cent drop from the same period last year, according to data provider STR. Rooms got cheaper by 11.1 per cent year on year to Dh660.14.

“The market is readjusting itself now,” said Mathieu van Alphen, the general manager at Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi, in an interview last week. “Oil prices and corporate budgets are expected to rise towards the end of 2017, early 2018, and I am positive [about hotel performances].”

The five-day Winterland Carnival from December 27 on Yas Island at the du Forum attracted about 26,000 people. The free event transformed the du Forum into a snow park, and featured a snowball fight zone besides games such as the traditional Coconut Shie and rides on a mini-train. It also had food trucks and a beverage zone. These were topped off by a fireworks show on December 31.

Al Maryah Island Promenade, Khor Al Maqtaa and Emirates Palace hotel all had their own fireworks.

The Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival, which has been taking place at Al Wathba from December 1, is also popular with visitors, according to TCA Abu Dhabi. Initially scheduled to conclude on January 1, it was extended by three weeks in response to demand.

The Abu Dhabi Food Festival, held across the emirate from December 5 to 23, attracted 29,000 visitors from the region, according to TCA Abu Dhabi. The festival included street food events and trade fairs.

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