Welcome to Ras Al Khaimah, the excitement emirate

Ras Al Khaimah’s bid to host the 2023 World Athletics Half Marathon Championship has been announced and it will be a game-changer to win it. How does the bid tie in with RAK’s tourism strategy? 

The 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships is a new global event that will bring together thousands of runners from around the world. Winning the bid and hosting such a prestigious global event will put the emirate on the map and further assert its position as a top destination for sports tourism, while showcasing everything that it has to offer, from adventure, culture and to sustainable and nature-based travel.

Over the past few years, the emirate has been increasing its focus on the sports and adventure event segment with the introduction of a range of outdoor events that take advantage of the diverse natural landscape.

Such events include; Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, the grand final of the European Golf Challenge, Spartan, Desert Warrior, Terry Fox and Tough Mudder – all of which play a significant role in boosting sporting tourism in the emirate.

The events are also seeing multiple editions hosted by Ras Al Khaimah, which emphasises the significance of the emirate on the regional sporting stage. 

The RAK Half Marathon and other sporting events such as trail runs etc, are a big part of the UAE’s outdoor calendar. How important are these in driving tourism to RAK? 

Sports and adventure tourism is key to Ras Al Khaimah’s tourism development strategy, and hosting such a prestigious event like the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships will be an important addition to the authority’s events calendar showcasing its growing tourism and hospitality industry and boosting the number of international travellers to the emirate. 

Kenyan runner Kibiwott Kandie crosses the finish line during the 2020 RAK Half Marathon

How did you secure the Bear Grylls Academy to choose RAK for its latest venture, and why was it chosen? 

We decided to launch the world’s first Bear Grylls Explorer Camp in Ras Al Khaimah owing to the emirate’s identity as a fast-emerging adventure hub in the Middle East. With its diverse landscape and majestic mountains, Ras Al Khaimah offers a thrilling blend of adrenaline-packed activities.

The Bear Grylls Explorer Camp’s unique placement on Jebel Jais – the UAE’s highest peak– has proven to be an ideal location in which to challenge adventurers with its stunning mountainous terrain.

In addition to this, the nature of the courses varies greatly from the camp’s UK counterparts which operate in wet, cold conditions, whereas the Bear Grylls Explorer Camp set within the Wadi, offers an arid environment coupled with a dramatic wilderness setting, offering limited wild food options.

The challenges faced also differ, with dehydration and heat stroke forming the main focus in this region. These differences set aside the Bear Grylls Explorers Camp from UK-based entities, creating a completely unique experience to be enjoyed. 

The courses offered at the Bear Grylls Explorer Camp are also complementary to its UK counterparts offering varied climatic challenges to guests who have explored the UK-based camp.

When world records are set in RAK, it’s definitely invaluable in terms of media coverage and attention – how do you attract the world’s elite athletes to keep returning?

Officially known as the world’s fastest marathon, the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon has established a strong reputation amongst regional and international athletes over the years.

The marathon is not only a world-renowned sporting event but next year more so than ever it will represent a genuine step towards recovery for the tourism industry.

In addition to the attractive monetary prizes, the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon’s fast and picturesque course, as well as the prospect of world records are amongst the many factors that attract world athletes to take part it in every year.

There are structured and officially recognised attractions in RAK such as the hotels, zip line etc, and also the natural landscape which people camp in, explore etc.

Are there plans to make this more developed in terms of guides, or entrance fees, or park permits or anything like that, as is done in other countries?

We are constantly working towards the diversification and enhancement of the emirate’s tourism offering to maximise our visitors’ experience.

And while we are still in the early stages of recovery, we have a very positive outlook which is demonstrated through our recently announced long-term investment strategy aimed to boost the growth and diversification of Jebel Jais. 

The Jebel Jais Zipline Tour features seven ziplines flying over the grand cliffs of Jebel Jais

Our new phased investment strategy will focus primarily on developing Jebel Jais as a standalone destination by further diversifying its offering through several new nature-based projects including a pop-up hotel concept, scheduled to open in the second half of 2021, which will introduce unique cliff side accommodation with unrivalled picturesque mountain views.

In addition, a Mountain Lodge, located adjacent to the emirate’s renowned hiking trails will provide luxury accommodation when it opens in 2022. 

Tourists will also get to experience the mountain from a completely different perspective by winding through gorgeous scenery with the Jais Coaster, a summer toboggan/bobsled concept inspired by the Alps, which will open in Q2 2021.

Adding yet another first to its diverse offering, Jebel Jais will also be the home to Sky High Meetings, the first-of-its-kind highest meeting room in the UAE ideal for business meetings and gatherings against the backdrop of the Hajar Mountains, slated to open later this year.

With the introduction of our new investment strategy, we aim to enrich visitor experiences and accommodate the increasing demand for travel experiences set in expansive, open and natural environments.

RAK’s tourism positioning is really focussing on its outdoor and adventure pursuits, from the recently opened Bear Grylls Academy to the Zip Line, and its lovely trail, wadi and hiking areas – how is sustainable development part of the strategy, and what are the plans moving forward?

According to the World Economic Forum COVID Action Platform, travel preferences and patterns have changed, leading to renewed interest in less crowded destinations and increased interest in sustainable tourism.

Within this context, a key trend that has emerged is Nature Tourism, since it offers travellers a combination of social distancing, discovery and connection with nature, all of which aligns seamlessly with the Jebel Jais experience.

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority has recognised this shift in traveller mindset and has been making conscious efforts to further promote the development and diversification of its nature-based and sustainable attractions, particularly on Jebel Jais, to meet the local and international visitors’ new needs and expectations.

From a broader destination perspective, Ras Al Khaimah’s diversity in landscape and offering makes it ideal for visitors looking for comfort and security in expansive settings and where social distancing is easier to practice in serene surroundings on the mountains, on the coast or in the desert.

In terms of upcoming plans, our focus now is on implementing our new investment strategy which is set to further develop the emirate’s outdoor nature-based offering on Jebel Jais with sustainable tourism experiences.

The upcoming projects on UAE’s highest mountain will join the existing attractions including Jais Adventure Peak, which serves a gateway to the various attractions on the iconic mountain, including the world’s longest zipline and 1484 by Puro – the highest restaurant in the UAE.  Moreover, the world’s first Bear Grylls Explorers Camp was recently announced, bringing the mountain experience to life.

In 2020, how did you see your tourism figures shift – presumably there was a lot more from the UAE itself; who are your main markets and who are you targeting for growth moving forwards?

Over the past few years, Ras Al Khaimah has grown from strength to strength, seeing increased visitation from top contributing source markets including Russia, India, Germany, United Kingdom and Kazakhstan.

RAKTDA recognises the importance of constantly evolving its outdoor offering

Like all tourism destinations around the world, Ras Al Khaimah has seen the significant impact of the pandemic on its tourism numbers. Tourism dropped by almost 30 percent but when compared to other destinations that dipped down even further, and in some cases, twice as much, we have been very fortunate.

However, mitigating the effects of this crisis did not happen in isolation. From as far back as April, we became one of the first destinations to embark on a sustained recovery strategy ranging from a financial stimulus package for our hospitality partners to becoming the first safe city in the world, as certified by both Bureau Veritas and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

While 2020 has been an unprecedented and challenging year, the Emirate’s tourism industry continues to demonstrate impressive growth in RevPAR year-to-date, making it the only regional market to achieve this.

The Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey Report, conducted by Ernest and Young across the hospitality sector, saw an ADR increase from July 2019 to July 2020 in the Emirate of over 70 percent, resulting in robust RevPAR growth of 13 percent.

In August, a similar pattern emerged with an ADR increase of over 60 percent from August 2019, leading to RevPAR growth of over 15 percent. This growth can be attributed to enhanced safety and hygiene measures as well as our success in attracting the staycation market with a breadth of offerings set against sweeping outdoor spaces that makes social distancing comfortable.

The authority worked on a Covid-19 stimulus plan; do you feel enough has been done swiftly enough to navigate the situation? What were the key initiatives?

As soon as the crisis hit, we launched a range of far reaching support initiatives, aimed at our hospitality, leisure and development partners to lay the strong foundations for future recovery.

We also shared a comprehensive contingency plan with our industry partners, which mapped out short- to mid-term solutions to mitigate the negative impact of coronavirus on travel to Ras Al Khaimah. Our four-step road to recovery placed initial focus on the domestic market, followed by the GCC and wider Middle East, to then be extended to Asia and Europe. 

The key initiatives included offering a six-month waiver of all touristic licenses; waiver of tourism dirhams, a complete exemption of tourism licensing fees and tourism licensing fines until September 30th.

This support was further enhanced by a dedicated financial incentive package aimed towards non-government owned touristic entities, including budget, midscale and four-star hotels as well as attractions, golf courses and other tourism establishments.

Through our strategic partnership with Bureau Veritas, we have led the way in implementing stringent health, safety and hygiene measures across all Ras Al Khaimah hotels to mitigate any possible risks for employees and guests and providing complete confidence in the destination.

As a result of these strict precautionary measures, Ras Al Khaimah became the first city in the world to receive both the Bureau Veritas Safeguard Assurance Label and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Travels Stamp which recognise the heightened safety standards, training and hygiene protocols in place across the emirate.

This naturally boosted visitors’ confidence and the demand of short getaways within the local market.

Alongside promoting the region to visitors, part of the remit of RAKTDA is to promote it to investors. How crucial is it to attract the right kind of investor, and who is investing in RAK?

Tourism is a vital sector and a direct contributor to the national economy. Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority actively encourages private investment in the sector, and makes those investments even more attractive by adding incentives and putting massive resources behind tourism development.

This is reflected in the astonishing improvements in the infrastructure, facilities and developments taking place across the emirate, all with the objective of increasing annual visitor arrivals. Ras Al Khaimah offers unlimited investment opportunities for travel and tour operators, hotel operators, key hospitality brands, retail and F&B providers.

What are some of the attractions to global athletes of this marathon?  

As the world’s fastest half marathon, the race has consistently drawn international athletes to attend due to the high calibre of participating athletes, the number of world records achieved over the years, the panoramic views the RAK Half Marathon offers, and most importantly the AED 1.2m ($326,000)prize fund on offer.

Are there any plans to make the event a full marathon? 

At the moment we are focussing on the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon that has seen incredible performances from the elite runners and has achieved an enviable status in the region. Last year alone we have welcomed over 5,000 participants.