Abu Dhabi slashes hotel room and restaurant fees to boost tourism

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism has reduced government fees applied to hotel rooms and restaurant in the emirate. The revised fee structure will come into effect from 1 September 2023 . «This revision of fees seeks to further grow the emirate as a tourism and cultural destination while bolstering support for its thriving hospitality sector,» the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said in a statement.

The fee revision by the Abu Dhabi government include a reduction of tourism fee on guests from 6% to 4%, removal of municipality fee of AED15 per room per night, removal of 6% tourism fee and 4% municipality fee applied to hotel restaurants. The municipality fee for 4% of the value of the invoice issued to the customer will however continue. Tourism has bounced back in the emirate after the pandemic.

Dubai has surpassed pre-pandemic international visitation levels in the first half of 2023. The emirate welcomed 8.55 million international visitors from January to June 2023, exceeding the pre-pandemic figure of 8.36 million tourists in H1 2019. Dubai’s average hotel occupancy of 78% in first six months of 2023 ranks among highest in the world.

Abu Dhabi International Airport has reported a sharp jump in the airport’s traffic for the first half of 2023. According to figures released by the government, 10,258,653 passengers passed through Abu Dhabi international Airport between 1 January and 30 June 2023, a 67% increase compared to 6,158,376 passengers served during the same period last year. Abu Dhabi International Airport also recorded 67,835 flights, a notable increase of 36 per cent compared to 49,919 flights during H1 2022.