The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) is looking to capitalise on the growing popularity of the emirate as a tourist destination to Chinese travellers as it embarks on a promotional tour to several cities across China this month, said a report.

Over the past few years, inbound travel from China has soared drastically with the number of hotel guest rising 31 per cent in 2016 compared to the previous year and surging 48 per cent in the first three months of this year, said a report in WAM.

China has now overtaken India as the largest overseas source market for international visitors into the emirate with close to 100,000 Chinese staying in the emirate’s 167 hotels and hotel apartments between January and March this year.

TCA Abu Dhabi, along with Etihad airways and other hotel and tour operators, will promote the emirate during an initial four-city roadshow beginning today (May 4) in Chengdu and stopping in Wuhan, Guangzhou and ending in Nanjing on May 9, the report said.

On May 10, TCA Abu Dhabi will also attend the ITB China Exhibition 2017 in Shanghai, along with partners and stakeholders, to demonstrate the emirate’s credentials in hosting Chinese visitors and encouraging them to visit and explore Abu Dhabi and its diverse attractions.

Mubarak Al Nuaimi, director promotions and overseas offices for TCA Abu Dhabi, said: "China has been identified as one of our priority markets offering enormous growth potential in the future. Each year, we are seeing impressive growth in the number of hotel guest arrivals and the first quarter of this year has been excellent, with close to 50 percent growth over the same period in 2016.

"We are trying to make the emirate as welcoming and easy to travel around as possible for our Chinese guests and will continue to support and implement new initiatives to make Abu Dhabi even more enticing."

The China-friendly initiatives include tourist attractions and hotels in Abu Dhabi receiving the China Tourism Academy’s Welcome Chinese Certification - awarded to distinguished hospitality establishments that offer high-quality services to Chinese visitors, including Mandarin-speaking staff members - and accepting China Union Pay bank cards, it said.

From July 1, Etihad Airways will begin operating its B787 Dreamliner on their daily Beijing to Abu Dhabi route. The airline currently operates 28 flights per week to Abu Dhabi from four major cities in Greater China: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hong Kong, providing excellent air connectivity to the emirate.