Tourism chiefs in Abu Dhabi have said the city is on track to hit its 2009 targets despite the impact of the economic downturn.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) is aiming for about 1.5 million hotel guests this year.

“The targets we have in place are based on a solid understanding of demand and supply fundamentals,” said Lawrence Franklin, the director of strategy and policy at the authority in comments published by UAE daily The National on Monday.

He said the sector would be boosted by the launch of Air Asia, the low-cost carrier that will begin flying between Abu Dhabi and Kuala Lumpur in November as it will open up new markets to the UAE capital.

But Franklin told the paper that arrivals had “slowed from many of our inbound markets, including Europe”.

The UK last year was Abu Dhabi’s main tourism source market, accounting for 112,200 hotel guests, followed by India and then Germany.

But the performance of Abu Dhabi’s hotel industry remained strong compared with other world cities, the ADTA said.

Abu Dhabi intends to attract 2.3 million hotel guests a year by 2012 and Franklin said it would achieved through the continued expansion of its airline capacity, tapping new markets and expanding its attractions with additions such as the Ferrari World theme park, due to open next year.