Abu Dhabi hotel room rates plunge a quarter in February

Abu Dhabi hotels have become extremely affordable as the average room rates plunged nearly a quarter in February due to one-off event.
According to an STR data released on Monday, average daily rates fell 23.3 per cent to Dh431.34 as demand grew 5.1 per cent.
Hotel occupancy grew 5.1 per cent to 81 per cent, reflecting strong continued inflow of travelers and visitors during the winter months. The room supply remained flat.
Revenues per available room plunged 19.4 per cent to Dh349.2 in February, revealed STR data.
"The absolute occupancy level would be the highest for a February in Abu Dhabi since 2009. The decline in ADR came as a result of an off year for the biennial International Defence Exhibition & Conference, which will be held once again in 2019," global hospitality consultancy said in a statement on Monday.
"We continue to invest heavily in promoting the emirate abroad across our source markets, with our strategy paying dividends in attracting more hotel guests than ever before. We are targeting more guests by the end of the year and with our expanding portfolio of attractions across the emirate, including Louvre Abu Dhabi and the soon to be opened Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi theme park, we are confident of reaching this number and continue on towards our target of 8.5 million visitors by 2021," said Saif Saeed Ghobash, director-general, DCT Abu Dhabi.
He said tier one markets China, India, UK, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the US are performing particularly well with all of them recording more than 10 per cent growth in January.
In January 2018, hotel guests in Abu Dhabi grew 7.4 per cent to 437,228. Abu Dhabi aims to receive 8.5 million visitors by 2021. - waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com