Chinese visitors drive tourism boom in Abu Dhabi

DUBAI -- Hotel guests in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), increased by 5 percent in September year-on-year, underpinned by a 133 percent hike of Chinese visitors, said an official statement on Wednesday.

The Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi said in the statement that the rise to over 28,000 Chinese guests last month can be attributed to "extensive marketing" across China carried out by the department and the granting of visas on arrival to Chinese nationals since the start of 2017.

"China is showing outstanding growth for us and we have a long-term target of bringing 600,000 Chinese hotel guests a year to the emirate by 2021," said Saif Saeed Ghobash, director general of the department.

In order to drive that kind of growth, the department has run our the first "Abu Dhabi Week in China" initiative to encourage more businesses, partners and stakeholders to work together in promoting the emirate.

Moreover, many tourist attractions in the city have been improving their services, such as providing Chinese-speaking tour guides and promoting China UnionPay, the country's largest bank card payment processor, said Ghobash earlier last month at the "Abu Dhabi Week in China" held in Shanghai.