Picture: (from left flanked by Etihad Cabin Crew) Tiago Phillimore, Etihad Director Locations, Merchandise & Holidays; Aysha Al Kaabi, Etihad VP of Business Enablement & Engagement; Abdulla Yousuf, DCT Director Worldwide Operations; Haitham Al Khamis, DCT Part Head of Aviation, Cruise & World Partnerships; and Nahla Al Shorbaji DCT Mission Supervisor Aviation.
Division of Tradition and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) and Etihad Airways celebrated the success of the Abu Dhabi Stopover Programme at Arabian Journey Market 2025, with customer numbers persevering with to speed up at a formidable tempo.
The Stopover Programme has achieved 25,000 bookings within the first 4 months of 2025, representing a 47% progress in gross sales in comparison with the identical interval in 2024. Extra considerably, the variety of guests has surged to 44,000 between January and April 2025, marking a considerable 76% enhance over the 25,000 guests recorded throughout the identical interval final yr.
The success of the Abu Dhabi Stopover Programme extends past preliminary visits, with many travellers who first skilled the emirate throughout a brief stopover returning for longer devoted holidays. This progress builds on the robust efficiency all through 2024, which welcomed 85,000 worldwide stopover guests in comparison with 12,000 in 2023. Etihad Airways anticipates internet hosting greater than 130,000 stopover company in 2025, persevering with to convey incremental guests to Abu Dhabi at an accelerated tempo.
The programme attracts guests from throughout Etihad’s world community, with notable curiosity from the USA and Canada, the place travellers are more and more breaking their journey to expertise Abu Dhabi’s cultural sights. European guests from the UK, Germany, and France are discovering the emirate’s distinctive mix of custom and modernity. The programme additionally resonates with travellers from India, Japan, and South Korea, highlighting Abu Dhabi’s numerous attraction to worldwide guests.
The programme’s attraction has been additional enhanced by the brand new Abu Dhabi Move launched in March, which supplies extra advantages for travellers in search of to maximise their time within the emirate.
The digital Abu Dhabi Move supplies guests with free airport transfers, a vacationer SIM card with knowledge connectivity, limitless entry to public buses, and 24-hour limitless entry to the hop-on-hop-off vacationer bus community. Move holders additionally get pleasure from unique reductions of as much as 15% at main sights together with Qasr Al Watan, Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Yas Island’s leisure locations reminiscent of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Warner Bros. World™ Abu Dhabi, SeaWorld Yas Island, Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld.
Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, Director Common for Tourism at DCT Abu Dhabi, stated: “Abu Dhabi’s strategic funding in data-led advertising and marketing, numerous programming, and a culture-first method is yielding vital tourism progress, evidenced by 1.4 million Q1 2025 in a single day company. With the success of our stopover programme, we intention to strengthen partnerships and broaden our world attain, making certain our distinctive cultural identification stays central to our long-term tourism imaginative and prescient.
“The multi-sensory teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi opened on 18 April and is the latest addition to Saadiyat Cultural District. This 17,000 sqm immersive artwork house options transformative displays on the intersection of artwork, science, and expertise, including to the emirate’s rising portfolio of world-class experiences.”
Antonoaldo Neves, Etihad Airways Chief Government Officer, stated: “Our Stopover Programme continues to exceed expectations as extra travellers select to interrupt their journey and uncover Abu Dhabi. The 76% progress in guests through the first 4 months of 2025 demonstrates the programme’s accelerating momentum. By providing as much as two complimentary lodge nights, we’re giving guests the right alternative to expertise our exceptional vacation spot. The introduction of the Abu Dhabi Move has additional enhanced this expertise, offering sensible advantages and unique reductions that permit guests to profit from their time within the emirate.”
The typical size of keep for stopover guests has elevated since 2024, with travellers exploring extra sights throughout their go to. This progress helps the goals of Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Technique 2030, which goals to draw 39.3 million guests, create 178,000 new jobs within the tourism sector, and contribute AED 90 billion to Abu Dhabi’s GDP by 2030.
Trying forward, DCT Abu Dhabi and Etihad Airways plan to additional improve the customer expertise via continued collaboration, with formidable targets set for worldwide customer arrivals within the coming years.
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