A record 4.4 million tourists visited Abu Dhabi in 2016, an 8 percent increase from the previous year in terms of numbers, according to the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA).

The 2016 statistics also showed a significant increase in bookings and reservations for hotels and other accommodation, with the total number of nights booked reaching 12,031,628.

The announcement was made after a meeting by companies from Abu Dhabi’s tourism and hotel industries, along with representatives of the tourism authority’s overseas offices.

The meeting has become an annual event for the local tourism industry and it provides a venue for industry players to share their latest products and services with the 11 official tourist offices abroad, in order to identify opportunities to attract more foreign visitors to Abu Dhabi.

Director-General of the TCA, Saif Saeed Ghobash, said such results are exceptional as they highlight Abu Dhabi’s leading global position and its success in promoting itself as an attractive international destination.

India still leads in terms of visitor numbers, with a total of 323,388 or up 15 percent of last year’s total, while China occupied third position with the number of visitors reaching 31 percent.

The report also confirmed that most European visitors in 2016 came from the United Kingdom with a total number of British visitors reaching 238,167, placing it second overall.