UAE tourism official: Saudis visiting Abu Dhabi on the increase

JEDDAH:  More than 40,000 Saudi tourists have visited the Emirate of Abu Dhabi during the first half of this year, an increase of 73 percent compared to the same time last year, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) senior tourism official said.
“The number of Saudi tourists visiting the Emirate is expected to go up by about 50 percent during the second half of the year,” Mubarak Al-Shamsi, director of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Tourism & Culture told Arab News.
Through Abu Dhabi’s representative office in Jeddah, the authority organized a workshop on Sunday touring the Kingdom’s three major cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, with the aim of attracting more Saudis and expatriates.
“During the past three years, the Kingdom has emerged as the fifth largest tourist market for the Emirate. Our current tour of the Kingdom is proof of the strategic importance the Saudi market plays in helping us to achieve our tourist objectives,” he added.
According to Al-Shamsi, 36,430 Saudi tourists stayed for 79,307 nights at hotels in Abu Dhabi during the first half of the current year, marking an increase of about 37 percent over the same period last year.
He said the number of hotel occupants in Abu Dhabi rose by about 17 percent during the month of June, including 6,661 Saudis, which is an increase of about 57 percent over last year’s numbers. 
“Opur hotels offer discounts of 50 percent on all services extended to Saudi tourists,” he explained.
Al-Shamsi considered the geographical proximity, the social bonds and similarities in traditions, habits and cultures to be among the factors attracting Saudis to Abu Dhabi, either for business or pleasure, or attending conferences and other activities.
He said that although many of the tourists from the Kingdom arrive in Abu Dhabi by land, Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, operates 42 weekly flights, including 13 each from Riyadh and Jeddah, and 16 from Dammam, while Saudi Arabian Airways (Saudia) runs daily flights from Riyadh and Jeddah to the UAE. Nas Airways, a private company, also has daily flights from Jeddah to the UAE.
Al-Shamsi said the authority had prepared a number of tourist programs and shows which were specially designed to attract Saudi tourists.
He revealed that Yas Island’s “Yas Water World, Abu Dhabi”, a water sports tourist facility, would soon be opening in the Emirate.
He said the other activities in Abu Dhabi included: the International Exhibition for Hunting & Equestrian on Sept. 5-8, Abu Dhabi Art Gallery on Sept. 7-10, and Formula 1 Etihad Airways Grand Prix on Nov. 2-4.