A 200-year-old pearl diving village and the longest zip line in the world will be among attractions marketed by tourism officials to help reposition Ras Al Khaimah as more than just a sun and sand destination, boosting visitor numbers and the revenue they bring to the northern emirate.
Ras Al Khaimah expects to draw 100,000 new visitors this year, including adventure tourists and history buffs, according to its Tourism Development Authority (RAK TDA).
It is basing this year’s forecast of 840,000 visitors on demand from the new source markets of India, China, Poland, Finland and Kazakhstan. It has targeted 1 million visitors by 2018.
A 1,500-person capacity exhibition centre on Al Marjan Island is due to open next month and will help corporate travel, currently at 5 per cent of overall tourism, grow by 10 per cent.
An adventure park is due to open next month on Jabal Jais including a via ferrata, or a protected climbing path along the rock face, and a zip line.
“We will bring the longest zip line in the world,” said Haitham Mattar, the chief executive of RAK TDA.
“We are also working with airlines in our key source markets such as Russia, Germany and the UK.”
RAK TDA opened an office in Russia this month, and in India last month. It plans to open in Riyadh next month and in China in June.
During the first two months of the year, it received 16,000 tourists from Germany, 5,500 from the UK, 4,800 from India and 4,000 from Russia.
The authority also plans to open a five-star camp on Jabal Al Jais, pending an agreement.
Other attractions would include a viewing deck overlooking the port, and a restored version of the pearl diving village Al Jazeera Al Hamra.
Affordability compared to Dubai is among Ras Al Khaimah’s key attractions. Last month, the average nightly hotel room rate was Dh605compared to Dh833.78 in Dubai, according to the research company STR.
Average occupancy in RAK was around 71 per cent last month, up 17.4 per cent year-on-year. The average revenue per available room was Dh431, up 6.7 per cent compared to a year earlier.
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