Speaking at WTM London on Monday, Raki Phillips, chief executive officer of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, said the emirate had used the last 18 months to “stay agile”.
“We wanted to keep moving onto bigger and better things. Our big focus is on nature. We have four Unesco sites, more than any other emirate. We realised there is no better time to invest in attractions than in the last year. We have invested £100 million in investing and enhancing our cultural experience.”
These investments include an eco-friendly hotel at the top of Jebel Jais, the UAE’s highest peak, as well as a base camp below the mountain “for campers wanting a glamping experience.”
Phillips said the emirate would also launch a paragliding experience at the end of the year.
He added that Ras Al-Khaimah currently has 7,000 keys but that “in three years we will double the investment to have 10,000 keys”.
“We’re committed to this – these are all being launched in an 18 month period”, he said.
Elsewhere Phillips said sustainability remained an important factor for the emirate. “It has to,” he explained, “it is key for us as a nature driven emirate.”
Ras Al-Khaimah, which announced a “repositioning of its brand and logo” last year to focus on its mountain, desert and sea offering, has announced a Sustainable Tourism Destination Strategy with an aim to become “the regional leader in environmentally conscious tourism by 2025”.
It has a series of different areas of focus within this, including cultural preservation, employee mental well-being, industry-wide protocols and carbon emission goals and a plan to create an economically and sociable sustainable tourism sector.
