Abu Dhabi - Mubasher: The number of tourists in Abu Dhabi and Dubai increased by 3.6% in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017.
Hotel occupancy grew by 1.2%, while room occupancy increased 5.7% during the three-month period, official data showed.
The tourism sector’s solid growth during Q1-18 enhanced the sector's contribution to the national economy, the initial reading of the quarterly review report issued by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) showed.
Tourism in UAE has shown a steady growth, particularly in business and conference tourism, which has witnessed significant gains over the past few years, supported by the sector’s sophisticated infrastructure.
Tourism growth in Abu Dhabi and Dubai coincided with an increase in the number of the Chinese tourists by 17.9% year-on-year in Q1-18, the data showed.
Meanwhile, Indian tourists to the two emirates increased 9.6%, while the number of British tourists were higher on the back of the British pound’s rise.
On the other hand, Pakistani and Philippine tourist numbers declined.
Russian tourists to Abu Dhabi and Dubai doubled in the first three months of this year, backed by the high exchange rate for dirham against the Russian ruble, the CBUAE’s data indicated.
