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Abu Dhabi Tourism Gets a Boost as Emiratis Avoid Overseas Travel


As ADTA’s Deputy Director-General of Tourism Operations, Ahmed Hussein is the main official responsible for marketing the emirate overseas and for the agency’s product development and major events. Hussein, an Emirati citizen, is also Chief Operating Officer of an ADTA subsidiary, the Tourism Development & Investment Company, a major developer of Abu Dhabi’s tourism assets.

Following are excerpts of an email interview Hussein gave recently to Khaleej Times.

How has domestic tourism been developing in Abu Dhabi?

A) To date, we have no mechanism to track domestic tourism. The only mechanism we have is to track hotel guest stays. We are now addressing this issue through the development of new visitors’ surveys. In the interim, we look at the behaviour of UAE residents. Over the medium term, domestic tourism would appear to have grown very strongly — by almost 40 per cent since 2005 — and now constitutes one third of hotel room demand in Abu Dhabi emirate.

UAE residents are therefore, an important market that is helping to sustain demand for our hotel sector.

Has either swine flu or the recession contributed to the growth of domestic tourism in Abu Dhabi, by discouraging more citizens from travelling internationally?

A) Exact information on domestic tourism and, therefore, growth rates is not available. However, anecdotal information and international experience would indicate that these factors would positively influence domestic tourism. International experience of the impact of past recessions is that many travelers do tend to increase their focus on domestic travel often on the basis of belt- tightening and take shorter trips.

Levels of concern over issues such as swine flu vary markedly on a country-by-country basis. There has been no strong evidence of significant concerns over outbound travel by the local populace although there may have been some switching of travel destinations. Any individual concerns would, however, add to the tendency to travel domestically as the UAE has had few cases, is well-prepared and has world-class medical facilities.

What are the factors and attractions that are contributing to the growth of domestic tourism in Abu Dhabi?

A) There have been significant changes in Abu Dhabi’s tourism landscape that are providing positive reasons for locals to holiday at home and for visitors to other emirates to come here.

The range of quality of tourism infrastructure, events and activities continues to grow. New resorts — for example, the Desert Islands Resort and Spa on Sir Bani Yas Island in the Al Gharbia western region and the luxury and adventure activities it offers — are a case in point.

Traditional summer escapes such as Al Ain are also adding to their tourism charms with refurbished attractions such as Al Jahili Fort, engaging exhibitions and innovative responses to summertime heat such as the night zoo at Al Ain Wildlife Park.

Then, of course, there is our major events programme, which is constantly expanding….

For instance, visitors can go to Emirates Palace and visit, free-of-charge, the world-class exhibition devoted to the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island and its proposed museums, including the Shaikh Zayed National Museum, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum and Louvre Abu Dhabi. Next door, in the Gallery One ‘Museum Within A Palace,’ a range of truly international-calibre exhibitions are staged on a regular basis – again free of charge.

The opening of the Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque to a Sunday-Thursday complimentary guided tour run by ADTA guides has proved a tremendous draw. The emirate’s headline events this year of the Etihad Airways Formula 1 Grand Prix on November 1 and the Fifa World Clubs Cup in December will again significantly boost domestic, as well as international, tourism.

Later this year there will be even more reasons to visit Abu Dhabi, as the tourism product receives a further boost with the opening(s) of an additional nine holes… at the all-grass golf course at the Palm Sports Resort in Al Ain,… the Gary Player-designed ‘ocean’ golf course on Saadiyat Island and of the Qasr Al Sarab luxury desert retreat in Liwa.

Next year, of course this will improve further as more hotels and attractions come on line including Ferrari World Abu Dhabi — the world’s largest indoor theme park.

Has ADTA or any other agency launched campaigns to promote domestic tourism?

A) This is now subject to review. We have recently increased our focus on the GCC markets, where we believe we have substantial potential. Last year some 100,000 GCC visitors stayed in Abu Dhabi hotels. and we are looking to boost that number. In June we staged a destination GCC road show in conjunction with a number of our accommodation and attractions stakeholders, and business has resulted. We are firming up ties with the media and the travel trade throughout the GCC.

Our tourism industry has also responded with a wide range of special offers and value adds to encourage visitors and locals to stay and spend locally.

Has Abu Dhabi set any targets for growth in domestic tourism this year or in coming years?

A) ADTA does not set individual targets for domestic or international tourism. Rather one target is set for overall tourism, in particular hotel guests. For 2009 we have targeted stability, namely, 1.5 million hotel guests. In such a difficult global economic scenario, this would be a strong result

Can you estimate the size of the domestic tourism industry in Abu Dhabi?

A) No comprehensive estimates are available. It is, however, recognised that domestic demand makes a substantial contribution to overall tourism returns. In 2007, ADTA estimates that spending by residents on travel (which includes outbound) was Dh3.4 billion, or approximately one-third of all visitor-based spending.

Overall, tourism constitutes 8.6 per cent of non-oil GDP, 10 per cent of non-oil employment and directly supports over 47,000 jobs.

· ramavarman@khaleejtimes.ae