The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said that Abu Dhabi will probably not cap hotel room rates for major events this year because the addition of new hotels will probably result in more competitive prices. In the past there has been a shortage of hotel rooms, making it hard for visitors to book rooms during popular events and conferences.
However, ADTA director of tourism standards, Nasser al Reyami, said “ADTA expects demand and supply conditions to change throughout the course of 2010 and this will lead to further reductions in room rates.”
ADTA said that Abu Dhabi expects to gain another 5,000 hotel rooms this year and hopes to increase its guest numbers by ten percent from last year’s 1.5 million guests. Currently Abu Dhabi has about 17,000 rooms in 111 hotels and hotel apartment businesses. About 4,500 rooms were added to the inventory last year, with about half of them opening in time for the Formula One Grand Prix race.
