Tuesday, October 8, 2024 Etihad Airways’ Abu Dhabi Stopover programme sees a 242% surge, boosting tourism with free hotel stays and seamless travel, attracting visitors worldwide. Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) are celebrating the remarkable growth of their Abu Dhabi Stopover programme, which has significantly boosted the city’s tourism sector. Since its relaunch, the Abu Dhabi Stopover programme, exclusively offered by Etihad Airways, has seen impressive success.
In the first half of 2024, the initiative welcomed 24,000 international visitors, compared to just 7,000 in the latter half of 2023 – an extraordinary 242% increase. With continued demand and a surge in bookings for the second half of the year, the programme is on track to meet its ambitious target of 75,000 international stopover visitors by the end of 2024. Travellers, with an average stay of two nights, are taking advantage of the chance to explore Abu Dhabi.
The programme has particularly appealed to visitors from key markets like England, the USA, Australia, the EU, and India. The surge in popularity has been driven by improvements to the booking process, including a new, user-friendly landing page on etihad.com, which has resulted in a 43% increase in web traffic from those seeking information about Abu Dhabi.
Etihad passengers can now easily add a stopover to their booking and choose a complimentary hotel stay for .