Market Update: UAE Northern Emirates

The Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah is the first property under Hilton Worldwide?s luxury brand in the UAE.

With more than 5000 rooms in the pipeline and growing visitor numbers each year, the UAE’s northern emirates are inching closer to completion on major projects — from manmade islands to heritage hotels. We take a look at how the key emirates of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah are carving their own niche to compete with Dubai and Abu Dhabi

RAS AL KHAIMAH
Ras Al Khaimah has benefited from increasing tourist arrivals in recent months; in 2012, visitor numbers reached 1.1 million and in the first six months of 2013, the city hosted 628,805 guests — making it likely that the emirate will meet its target of 1.2 million visitors by the end of the year.

The rise in the number of guests has also seen profits surge, with hotels in the emirate reporting US $90.847 million in revenues in the first seven months of 2013.

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While it’s clear that Ras Al Khaimah has emerged as one of the UAE’s hottest destinations, the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, which markets and promotes Ras Al Khaimah’s tourism destinations, is confident the luxury projects in the pipeline will add to the emirate’s appeal.

There are currently 16 four- and five-star hotels and resorts in the emirate with a combined room inventory of 3293 keys, including the Waldorf Astoria, which marked the entry of the luxury brand by Hilton Worldwide in the UAE.

“Tourism in Ras Al Khaimah is booming and has experienced significant growth over the past three years with the development of new hotels by international hotel brands including Hilton Worldwide as well as leisure activities such as golf, sailing and horse riding, and stand-alone fine dining restaurants,” says Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority director Khalid Motik.

“We’ve seen visitor numbers grow year on year and aim to attract 1.2 million visitors to the emirate in 2013. Occupancy levels in the first half of 2013 averaged at 70% at the Ras Al Khaimah hotels,” he adds.

The emirate’s growing tourism and hospitality offerings include two championship golf courses, water sports, sailing yachts, standalone fine dining restaurants such as Pesto, and a  corniche, which “all provide a complementary experience to entice visitors to Ras Al Khaimah and guests to hotels,” believes Motik.

“The Ras Al Khaimah government has invested heavily in developing the emirate’s infrastructure to support Ras Al Khaimah’s growing hospitality industry, making the emirate an accessible and attractive holiday destination,” he says.

“Our key selling points for Ras Al Khaimah are premium luxury, leisure and outdoor adventure.  Part of our marketing concept hinges on Ras Al Khaimah as ‘the rising emirate’ — an exciting and up-and-coming place to visit, offering a diversity of landscapes and a variety of relaxation facilities, including exclusive hotels and resorts, international cuisines and world-class spas. There is also the heritage and culture side of the emirate as well as a number of historical sites throughout the emirate,” adds Motik.

New projects
Work is currently underway on Al Marjan Island, the first man-made island project developed within Ras Al Khaimah. The US $1.8 billion project comprises a cluster of five coral-shaped islands spread over 2.7 million m2 and will house hotels, resorts, waterfront homes and commercial areas.

Confirmed properties due to open on the island in 2013 and 2014 include the 657-key Rixos Bab Al Bahr Resort, Bin Majid Group’s 265-room Santorini Hotel, a second DoubleTree Resort & Spa in Ras Al Khaimah by Hilton, and the 442-key Crowne Plaza Ras Al Khaimah — all expected to be “a major draw for domestic and international tourists” according to Motik.

Ras Al Khaimah has also benefited from partnering with other emirates to increase its appeal among tourists.

“We are seeing an increasing number of tour operators cater for tourists who want to split their stay across several emirates. When promoting Ras Al Khaimah, we do not compete with other emirates, but rather complement them as every emirate is exclusive in its own way.
Here, the traveller is offered a complete UAE experience when travelling to the UAE,” explains Motik.

The emirate is also exploring options to develop the MICE market, with resorts such as Banyan Tree Al Wadi and the Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort and Spa already facilitating this segment.

“Several of Ras Al Khaimah’s hotels, including Waldorf Astoria, Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort & Spa and Banyan Tree Al Wadi, have fantastic business facilities which are especially well suited for executive planning meetings, conferences and team building events,” says Motik.

“Ras Al Khaimah’s many outdoors activities, utilising the emirate’s unique combination of coast, desert and mountains, make the emirate an ideal destination for corporate team building and incentives and our close proximity to Dubai (45 minutes from Dubai International Airport) means that Ras Al Khaimah is well positioned to support Dubai’s MICE offering with these outdoor venues and activities,” adds Motik.

In an effort to build on the emirate’s current momentum, the Ras Al Khaimah TDA has participated at various travel trade shows including ITB Berlin, the World Travel Market in London, the Riyadh Travel Fair in Saudi Arabia and the Annual Resort Development & Hospitality Conference in China, to promote the destination.

And while the emirate is aggressively marketing itself to overseas tourists, the UAE remains Ras Al Khaimah’s top source market, with 23% of total visitors in the first seven months of 2013 being local UAE residents.

Germany and Russia also make up for a large chunk of the tourist market, followed by Ukraine, Italy, France, Switzerland, UK, Czech Republic and India. “India marks a new entry for 2013, following on from our participation in a road show to India in October 2012 under the umbrella of the UAE National Council of Tourism Antiquities,” Motik discloses.

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