Abu Dhabi plans to focus on visitors from India, China, Africa and the Arabian Gulf to compensate for a fall in Russian tourists and to fill thousands of hotel rooms that are expected to enter the market.
About 8,000 new rooms are expected to open in the next five years, according to Sultan Al Dhaheri, the executive director at the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi).
This supply before Expo 2020 will drive rates down but with the attractions on Saadiyat and expansion of Etihad Airways, demand will meet up with supply, he said.
“The strong US dollar and economic slowdown globally are affecting spending and the length of stay, but we are focusing on markets that will grow, which will compensate [for the drop elsewhere],” Mr Al Dhaheri said. “The ratio of the leisure market is growing and we are trying to build a healthy mix of leisure, corporate and [meetings, incentives, conferences and events] segments here.”
For the next two to three years, the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau will focus on education, health and energy sectors in the events space, said Mubarak Al Shamsi, the director of the bureau. He was talking on the sidelines of IBTM Arabia, a three-day event about conventions that started on Tuesday in the capital.
Eight hotels and hotel apartments opened in the capital last year, taking the total room count to 29,760, up 4.6 per cent from 2014. New properties include Jannah Burj Al Sarab, Courtyard by Marriott World Trade Center and Capital Centre Arjaan by Rotana, adjacent to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
Abu Dhabi also met its target of 4.1 million tourists last year, up 18 per cent on the previous year.
The emirate received the most guests from within the UAE, whose numbers increased by 20 per cent on 2014 to 1.37 million. India was the best-performing overseas market last year, with 280,000 visitors, up 21 per cent on 2014. It was followed by the UK, China, the United States and the Philippines.
Low oil prices and a global economic slowdown took a toll on the numbers from Russia. Guests from the country were down 17 per cent last year compared to 2014, touching 25,118. The number of guests from Ukraine, however, increased by 25 per cent, according to Edward Grigoriev, TCA Abu Dhabi’s country manager for Russia and CIS.
“We are focusing on CIS countries and high-end travellers from Russia and the region,” Mr Al Daheri said.
Compared to Egypt, Abu Dhabi is still an expensive market. Where all-inclusive rooms in Egypt can cost US$50 a night for Russian travellers including airfare, a three-star hotel in Abu Dhabi costs $85 a night without airfare.
The Russian market is expected to grow by 10 per cent to 30,000 tourists this year, Mr Grigoriev said.
There is a gap, however, in the number of flights between Abu Dhabi and the region.
Etihad, in September, cancelled flights to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and scrapped plans to operate flights to Baku in Azerbaijan and Tbilisi, Georgia.
The airline operates daily flights to Moscow with 150 seats each way, along with four flights a week to Almaty and two a week to Astana in Kazakhstan.
To drive up the length of stay, Abu Dhabi is encouraging tour packages of the city with the Western Region and Al Ain.
The average occupancy rate increased by 1 per cent to touch 75.4 per cent. The average length of stay decreased by 0.3 per cent to 2.99 nights from 3.13 nights.
“Our vast geography and diversity is a unique selling point,” Mr Al Daheri said.
The hotel revenue in Abu Dhabi went up by 5 per cent last year to Dh6.62 billion as room revenue rose by 7 per cent to Dh3.49bn over 2014. This compensated for the fall in food and beverage revenue to Dh2.32bn, a decrease of 1 per cent. The average room rate in Abu Dhabi was Dh430 a night, a drop of 0.6 per cent from 2014.
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'Shakuntala Devi'
Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra
Director: Anu Menon
Rating: Three out of five stars
Company%20Profile
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The biog
Born: High Wycombe, England
Favourite vehicle: One with solid axels
Favourite camping spot: Anywhere I can get to.
Favourite road trip: My first trip to Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan. The desert they have over there is different and the language made it a bit more challenging.
Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.
