Abu Dhabi hotels welcomed up to 2.6 million guests during the first seven months of 2017, with a 4 per cent uplift recorded this month compared to July, according to figures released by Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA).

Around 400,000 guests checked in during July, maintaining an annual growth of 7 per cent, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency.

The figures were mentioned in a recent report released by TCA and showed that 396,548 guests checked into the emirate’s 164 hotels and hotel apartments in July delivering 928,502 guest nights. Hotel revenues for the month were Dh327 million ($89 million) from a total of almost 33,000 available rooms.

All three regions of the Emirate – Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and Al Dhafra – posted guest arrival increases on the back of strong domestic tourism visitors from within the UAE, with these 138,273 arrivals accounting for 35 per cent of all monthly visits. Double-digit growth from key tier one markets of the UK and the US, up 28.5 per cent and 20 per cent respectively, reflect an upsurge in summer demand, with China’s phenomenal expansion continuing unabated, posting a monthly comparable increase of 87 per cent.

"The launch of a full programme of Abu Dhabi Summer Season events has helped underpin these figures," said Saif Saeed Ghobash, TCA director general.

"July’s growth in visitors from China, UK, and US, and the month’s UAE visitor arrivals total of 138,000 is encouraging and compares favourably when adjusted to take into account the Eid Al Fitr boost contained in the July 2016 figures. India and Saudi Arabia continue to perform well.

“Though there is still additional ground to cover, we have to consider the advances that are being made against the backdrop of a destination which has seen a nine per cent increase in hotel room inventory this year compared to last,” he added.