"Ras Al-Khaimah TIDA was established in May 2011 and by the end of 2011, we have exceeded our target of welcoming 800,000 visitors to the rising emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah. This has been achieved due to the joint cooperation of our travel partners both within Ras Al-Khaimah and beyond, and is testimony to Ras Al-Khaimah's viability and attractiveness as a tourist and tourism investment destination," said Victor Louis, chief operating officer of Ras Al-Khaimah Tourism Investment and Development Authority (Ras Al-Khaimah TIDA).
Visitors to the emirate in 2011 totaled 835,200, exceeding the target of 800,000, which generated AED400 million ($108 million) revenue. Foreign visitors were mainly from Russia, the UK, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
About hotel occupancies, he said, overall Ras Al-Khaimah hotels including beach resorts and city hotels performed very well in 2011, showing impressive growth in all key areas with 8.62 percent for beach resorts and 1.92 percent for city hotels. Revenue per Available Room (RevPar) improved by 24.50 percent for beach resorts and 10.24 percent for city hotels, resulting in an increased revenue of hotels to almost AED400 million ($108 million), which marks a rise of 37.61 percent compared to 2010.
"The Ras Al-Khaimah TIDA has rebranded the emirate as a premier affordable luxury destination for leisure, adventure and business travel offering a diverse landscape, rich heritage and a temperate climate. In addition to a robust marketing and promotional program implemented across the UAE and the GCC, special attention has also been given to specific European markets from which charter flights direct to Ras Al-Khaimah have been launched, and marketing and promotional campaigns initiated.
"With new attractions, hotels and resorts including the 349-room Waldorf Astoria Ras Al-Khaimah luxury brand property, and the 640-room resort Bab Al-Bahr, both scheduled to open in Q4 2012, as well as continuing the charter flights from European destinations, our goal of welcoming 1.2 million visitors by 2013 and reaching the hotel room inventory of 10,000 rooms by 2016 is on track and will be achieved in the rising emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah," Louis added.
