Domestic tourism ‘still important’ despite reopening of Abu Dhabi borders to global travellers

Domestic tourism ‘still important’ despite reopening of Abu Dhabi borders to global travellers

Domestic tourism in Abu Dhabi will continue to play an integral part in the recovery of the industry, despite the re-opening of the emirate to international travellers, according to Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, executive director of tourism and marketing at DCT Abu Dhabi.

As the Covid-19 vaccination process gathers pace across the UAE and the wider world, he predicted a return to some semblance of normality in 12 months' time.

Al Shaiba told Arabian Business: “Due to the new series of lockdowns at various destinations around the world, we can predict low volumes of international travel within the first few months of the year. During this period, domestic tourism will continue to play a key role in driving the tourism industry forward.

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“As restrictions begin to ease, we can predict that travel will begin to pick up within the second half of the year, and that tourism will start to somewhat normalise as we head into 2022.”

Neighbouring emirate Dubai opened its doors to international travellers back in July, but Abu Dhabi remained cautious in its approach, closely monitoring the situation until relaxing rules last week - travellers from across the