RAS AL KHAIMAH- The Ras al-Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, RAKTDA, on Sunday announced a 14 percent increase in international visitors during the first six months of the year.

These figures are larger than the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, UNWTO, forecast of 4 percent tourism growth in the Middle East in H1 and demonstrates the ongoing strength of Ras al-Khaimah as an emerging tourist destination. International markets accounted for 66 percent of visitor arrivals from January to June 2018, with a significant increase in Russian visitors, up 50 percent year-on-year.

Germany remained the second largest source market, up 4 percent, followed by the UK, with an increase of 13 percent over 2017. The Nordic region also remained strong, seeing 21.3 percent growth since the start of the year, as emerging markets continued their upward trajectory with Czech Republic up 34 percent, Kazakhstan up 22.1 percent, and Poland up 6.3 percent, versus the same period last year.

In the region, overall growth from the GCC increased 4.6 percent, with visitors from the KSA now topping the arrivals list. The first half of the year saw the expansion of adventure tourism activities, in what is fast becoming known as the region’s adventure tourism hub, and was recently awarded the World Travel Award for Middle East’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination 2018. Hotel performance also remained strong in the first half of the year, with occupancy rates consistent at 73.3 percent and average room rates increasing 5.5 percent, versus the same period last year. The supply of hotel keys is a major focus, moving forward, to support the increasing popularity of the destination among international and domestic tourists. Plans are already in place to add 5,600 rooms to the 6,500 currently available in the emirate, with the introduction of major global hotel brands over the next three years. Haitham Mattar, CEO of RAKTDA, said, "With international arrivals to the emirate rising by 14 percent in the first half of the year, we are on track to exceed our projection of 1 million visitors by the end of the year. Our focus remains on sustainable development, with new products and accommodations to meet the growing demand. This will form an integral part of our destination 2019-2021 strategy, which will be released in Q4.

"Jebel Jais remains core to our proposition, as we look to capitalise on the global adventure tourism industry and secure further interest from investors in this growing segment. With the right investment and the use of best practice to develop sustainable tourism, we envision a globally recognised destination, attracting three million visitors and contributing AED3.5 billion to the emirate’s GDP by 2025."

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