Pope visit, defence show boost Abu Dhabi hotels business

DUBAI: Pope Francis’ papal visit to the UAE and the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in February helped boost the performance of Abu Dhabi hotels, as daily room rates sharply hiked despite a dip in occupancy levels.

“The year-over-year increases in average daily rates and Revenue per available room were mainly driven by Pope Francis’ visit to Abu Dhabi (3-5 February) and the 2019 (17-21 February),” industry monitorS said in a preliminary report. “A jump in rates was seen during seven days.” Pope Francis’ visit saw up to 170,000 Catholic faithful thronging to Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City to hear the Papal Mass on the pontiff’s final day, and hotels in the emirate took advantage of the sudden increase in demand by raising, and some even almost doubling, their room rates.