Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said they have lowered the forecast for tourism growth due to the current economic climate. Sheikh Sultan Bin Taboon said the new target by 2012 is 2.3 million visitors compared to the previous target of 2.7 million visitors by that date.
Sheikh Sultan said the ADTA expects 1.5 million visitors this year, the same number as last year. He talked about the new forecasts in his opening speech at the MegaTrends conference in Abu Dhabi. He said “We have reviewed our forecasts in light of the current economic climate and will continue to do so.” Next year the ADTA expects hotel guest arrivals to increase 10%, 15% in 2011 and 15% again in 2012.