Sharjah records 11% growth in tourism statistics for 2012
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The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) released tourism statistics for Year 2012 citing continuous growth. More than 1,739,240 tourists visited the emirate in 2012 registering a 11% growth over previous year’s figure of 1,562,869. 
Tourism statistics record hotel occupancy rate at 75% while occupancy percentage stood at 72%. The overall average of hotel and hotel apartment occupancy stood at 74%. The last year also witnessed increase in overall hotel occupancy, touching 2,045,690 room nights which includes 1,215,636 hotel room nights and 830,054 hotel apartment room nights, showing an increase of 13% from previous year (2011), which had record 1,804,530 room nights, including 1,026,934 hotel room nights and 777,596 hotel apartment room nights.
HE Mohamed Ali Al Noman, chairman, SCTDA, said: “The positive statistics are a testament to continuous growth and progress in the tourism sector, underscoring Sharjah’s position in the region.”
With regards to profile of visitors, Europeans and Gulf nationals ranked first in number of tourists the emirate received last year. While at 621,315 the Europeans form 36% of Sharjah’s total number of tourists, GCC tourist numbers stood at 618,487 forming another 36%. The tourists from other Arab countries stood at 220,617 representing 13%. Asian tourists at 227,554 formed another 13% chunk of Sharjah’s tourists during Year 2012.
