Abu Dhabi boom pulls in international guests

The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) said here Sunday that the local hotel businesses are witnessing a boom characterized by a surge of Chinese and Russian guests. The TCA said the UAE capital's 141 hotels received almost 200, 000 guests in February, making a revenue of some 503.3 million Dirham (137 million U.S. dollars), 7 percent up year on year. While guests from Britain and Germany still dominated local hotels, TCA noted a considerable increase in arrivals from China and Russia, pointing out that some 5,800 Chinese people checked in at Abu Dhabi hotels in February, almost double the number in the same month of 2012. Mubarak Al Muhairi, head of the TCA, said visitors are also staying longer at Abu Dhabi hotels, which proves "our message to the world that the emirate has a lot to offer thanks to its expanded resorts, tourist attractions and business facilities."