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United Arab Emirates Tourism Report Q3 2009Published by: Business Monitor International Published: Jul. 20, 2009 - 55 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractTourism OverviewTourist arrivals to Dubai in 2008 have been revised up sharply by the authorities this quarter, with newdata showing that the number of visitors increased 8.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to over 7.5mn (as against a0.6% y-o-y increase in a previous press release). New figures also show that growth in arrivals to AbuDhabi slowed in 2008 to a modest 3% y-o-y, with 1.5mn visitors. Based on these data, BMI nowestimates that the annual growth rate of visitors to the UAE in 2008 was near 10%, at around 9.7mnarrivals (a slight increase in the rate of growth compared with 2007). More recent Dubai data for Q109,however, show arrivals were up a weaker 5% on the corresponding period in 2008 (a sharp slowdowncompared with about 14% y-o-y growth in Q408). Hospitality In line with the surprisingly strong growth in the number of guests in the hospitality sector in Dubai in2008, guest nights were also up a favourable 9.2% y-o-y to 22.4mn nights last year. Corresponding to thesharp slowdown in the growth of visitors in Q109, however, Dubai hotels reportedly witnessed a drop of16% y-o-y in occupancy rates during the first four months of 2009. In Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, followinga slowdown in the growth rate of hotel guests in 2008, hotels in the capital city recorded a fall inoccupancy rates of almost 7% y-o-y between January and April this year. Forecast Scenario Taking into account a much weaker growth in tourist arrivals to Dubai in Q109 and a slowdown ingrowth of arrivals to Sharjah and Abu Dhabi last year, BMI continues to maintain that the UAE will facea challenging period ahead in the tourism sector. Our forecast of negative growth in tourist arrivals in2009 remains -3% y-o-y. However, a slight recovery in growth in arrivals is anticipated in 2010. The pooroutlook for the tourism sector in the short term is based on the impact of further downward revisions thisquarter to BMI’s forecasts for the US and key European economies - which together accounted for anestimated 40% of total arrivals to the UAE in 2007 - and growth in the Middle East. Emirates Airline For the financial year ending March 31 2009, Dubai-based Emirates Airline (Emirates) posted group netprofits of AED1.49bn (US$406mn), which was down 72% from the previous year’s record profits ofAED5.3bn (US$1.45bn). Group turnover was AED46.3bn (US$12.6bn), representing an increase of10.4% on a year earlier. Despite continued business growth, the deterioration in the overall results reflectsthe impact of record high fuel prices in H108 and the impact of the global recession. Fuel costs accountedfor 36.2% of the airline’s operating costs in the last financial year - the largest ever proportion (up from32.9% in the previous year). Following buoyant annual growth in passenger numbers of 21% a yearearlier, Emirates carried 22.7mn passengers in the 2008-09 financial year; up a more modest 7% y-o-y. Air Arabia In the latest results for Q109, Sharjah-based Air Arabia reported a turnover of AED463mn (US$126mn),up 21% y-o-y. Passenger numbers over the same period rose an annual 26% to 951,000. Abu Dhabi National Hotels In financial results for the first quarter of this year, Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH) recorded a netprofit of AED150.7mn (US$41.0mn), representing a favourable increase of 10.4% on the correspondingperiod of 2008. The company also remains remarkably sanguine about the coming months, citing thestrength of Abu Dhabi’s economy, as well as a large number of imminent exhibitions and eventsscheduled in the emirate, including a Formula One grand prix in November 2009. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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