DRDubai: Tourism in Ras Al Khaimah is entering its golden age, thanks partly to the growing acceptance of its adventure tourism offerings. The world’s longest zipline at Jebel Jais, which was opened earlier this year, has already welcomed over 5000 adventure junkies.
“Overwhelmed by the initial response, we will be adding two more zip lines by end of July, taking the total to four,” said Haitham Mattar, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA). In 2016, RAK registered 11 per cent growth in tourist arrivals, while in 2017 it grew to 19 per cent. In the first quarter of 2018, RAK clocked 12 per cent over the corresponding period last year, ably backed by hotel occupancies which grew by 4 per cent to touch 79.4 per cent.
RAKTDA is focusing on activities, events and attractions to bump up the length of stay which currently hovers around 3.5 nights. “That is a bit skewed because many of the local visitors do not stay in RAK as they may be travelling from Dubai or another emirate. If we look at the FTAs separately, the duration of stay is over four nights.”
“We are well on track to meet our target of one million visitors by end of 2018 and three million by 2025,” said a confident Mattar. “We are investing heavily in building public infrastructure and hotel products to serve visitors better.”
By organising events like The Happiness Festival, introducing activities like the ziplines, and showcasing attractions like cultural assets and historic sites, RAKTDA is engaging visitors to extend their stay. “We are creating biking and hiking routes and a luxury camp featuring 31 villas in Jebel Jais.”
The hiking route will have three phases totalling 80 km. The first phase (30 km) will be ready by the end of 2018. The luxury camp will open for guests in 2020. RAKTDA is expected to announce the operator in a couple of weeks.
Currently, RAK has 5500 classified hotel rooms that are insufficient to meet the needs of the ever-increasing number of visitors.
Real estate major Emaar has announced three new hotels in RAK – one under the Address label and two under the Rove brand. Movenpick Resort Al Marjan Island, Millennium Hotel & Resort Al Marjan Island, Ras Al Khaimah Marriott Resort, Anantara Mina Al Arab, InterContinental Mina Al Arab and FourPoints by Sheraton are some of the projects under construction, scheduled to be completed in the next three years. These projects are slated to add up another 6000 rooms.
RAK is becoming a sought-after destination for the big fat Indian weddings. “From hosting just two weddings in 2016, we had 16 in 2017 and we will be doing over 20 weddings in 2018.” The MICE segment is showing traction. The RAK Exhibition Centre can take in 5000 guests. Besides, across various hotels, there are about 4500 meeting spaces ideal for small and mid-size events.
It is a lesser known fact that RAK is the richest emirate when it comes to historical sites in the UAE with a history dating back to 7000 years. Cultural and heritage tourism leveraging this narrative is being actioned. Al Jazirah Al Hamra, the red island, named for the sand it was built on is the oldest surviving village in the UAE to the south of RAK. A massive restoration programme to preserve it is underway. “We will get it certified by UNESCO® as a World Heritage site and open it to visitors shortly.”
