Hajar Mountains in Ras Al Khaimah
With Jebel Al Jais as its key attraction, tourism in the emirate is booming
Published: Fri 16 Oct 2015, 7:04 PM
Last updated: Sat 17 Oct 2015, 8:23 PM
Traffic was moving slowly on newly developed road leading to the UAE's highest place as residents flocked to the historic Hajar Mountains in Ras Al Khaimah to skip busy life in Dubai over the weekend.
Urooj Fatima, a Pakistani tourist along with her family, was stuck in long traffic queue but she was capturing the scenic mountain landscape of the fourth largest emirate of the UAE. It takes more than 50 minutes from RAK city to reach the 1,930-metre peak of Jebel Al Jais, which is also one of the coldest areas of the UAE and occasionally received snowfall in the past.
Like other hundreds of families at the Hajar Mountains, Fatima spent a quality enjoyment time in camping, barbecues, play music and games till late night. Another Indian family cut a cake in dim car lights to celebrate birthday of a cute baby at the mountains, which were formed more than 70 million years ago.
New attractions planned> Jebel al Jais is expected to emerge as new tourist destina-tion in ras al Khaimah once other planned developments i.e a hotel, cable car, paraglid-ing launch ramp, golf course and ski slope, will take shape in coming years.
> Residents and tourists are mostly visiting the area to enjoy long drive and cap-ture mountain landscape in their cameras as there is no hospitality as well as proper food and beverages facility available at the top.
> With little more efforts, Hajar Mountains has potential to become a regular weekend getaway for dubai, Sharjah and ajman residents and can generate a sizeable revenues for the emirate.
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"I think RAK is a perfect tourist destination with year-round sunshine, sweeping white sandy beaches, soft adventures and world class resorts. And Jebel Al Jais has its own mesmerising views and I have a completely different experience compared to busy life in Dubai and Sharjah," she said.
The Jebel Al Jais cluster, which is located around 25km from RAK city, about 100km from Dubai and 250km from Abu Dhabi, is the latest addition in the emirate's tourism map and has become a popular choice of destination for enthusiastic drivers, sightseers and picnickers. It is well connected with a newly-built highway, costing more than Dh300 million, and is expected to emerge as new tourist destination spot in RAK once other planned developments i.e a hotel, cable car, paragliding launch ramp, golf course and ski slope, will take shape in coming years.
The emirate also has the Middle East's largest water park spreading across an area of 110,000 square metres featuring world's largest man-made water fall and the largest rain dance pool. It also hosts one-of its-kind popular flying club, which has more than 50 different flying machines, and will help attract 850,000 tourist this year - an increase of 16.4 per cent. RAK Tourism Development Authority, or RAK TDA, is evolving strategic policies and taking measures in line with the government vision to promote the emirate's tourism infrastructure and potential across the globe.
With upcoming new projects and developments in hospitality sector, the emirate is keen to increase tourism share in gross domestic product (GDP) up to nine per cent from nearly three per cent at present.
Haitham Mattar, chief executive of RAK TDA, said the emirate is on track to attract one million visitors by 2018 as it has not only attracted domestic and international travellers, but also capturing the attention of the global business community.
"Throughout first half of 2015, we have made major progress in achieving our goal of attracting one million visitors by 2018 - with 730,000 guests choosing Ras Al Khaimah for their business and leisure trips throughout 2014," Mattar told Khaleej Times.
He said the speed at which Ras Al Khaimah is developing its offering is not only attracting tourists - but also attracting the global business community, with the emirate being ranked in the top 10 Global Cities of the Future 2014-15 by the Financial Times.
Global brands presence
Mattar said confidence in the Ras Al Khaimah market is shared by the global travel industry, and RAK TDA is seeing a rise in the number of brands choosing to operate in the emirate.
Elaborating, he said Marriott is among many global brands recognising the opportunity on offer in Ras Al Khaimah. The hospitality giant is currently developing a new five-star 300-key luxury beachfront hotel, which represents one of 20 properties currently under development in the emirate.
"The Ras Al Khaimah Marriott Resort, which is the hotelier's first property in the emirate, is expected to open in 2019."
He said the hospitality industry continues to perform well primarily due to its broad offering - capturing guests from the mid-scale sector to luxury segments with the presence of major global brands including Waldorf Astoria, Banyan Tree, Rotana, and Ramada. "This is spurring the development of a further 20 properties and 10,000 rooms, due to be fully operational by 2022," he said.
Mohammed Sultan Al Qadi, managing director and chief executive of RAK Properties said Ras Al Khaimah's natural beauty and rich cultural heritage have enabled the emirate to slowly and steadily grow a robust and promising hospitality sector. However, hospitality customers are also strongly drawn to trusted and globally recognised brands, so the presence of top players is also crucial to further developing the industry.
"The good news is that the emirate is already off to a good start as high-profile brands such as the Waldorf Astoria, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Banyan Tree, Rixos and Rotana Hotels are already present in the local market," Al Qadi told Khaleej Times.
"We see significant potential in the hospitality sector based on strong underlying fundamentals and growth potential, as we recently signed an agreement with international hotel owner, operator and investor Minor Hotel Group (MHG) to operate a luxury eco-themed waterfront resort in the emirate - the Anantara Mina Al Arab Ras Al Khaimah Resort.
To a question, he said RAK Properties will establish more hospitality projects in the emirate in coming years.
"Yes we do. RAK Properties is considering additional projects to complement the nature and heritage themes of its Mina Al Arab waterfront community," he said.
He said there are also other hospitality developments in the pipeline that align with Ras Al Khaimah's vision of becoming a renowned real estate, tourism, leisure, and investment hub.
"The tourism business in general and hospitality in particular is on the upswing across the emirate so we definitely plan to leverage Ras Al Khaimah's growing market through strategic projects," Al Qadi said.
Haytham Omar, general manager of Rixos Bab Al Bahr, said Ras Al Khaimah, which offers a better value proposition and gives hotel brands, scope and potential to work with.
"Despite certain changes in our source markets and the change in demand in the UAE, Rixos Bab Al Bahr has bucked the trend and has seen over 25 per cent year-on-year increase in guest nights this year compared to 2014," said Omar.
-muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com
FRIDAY | october 16, 2015
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> Jebel Al Jais is expected to emerge as new tourist destination in Ras Al Khaimah once other planned developments i.e a hotel, cable car, paragliding launch ramp, golf course and ski slope, will take shape in coming years.
> Residents and tourists are mostly visiting the area to enjoy long drive and capture mountain landscape in their cameras as there is no hospitality as well as proper food and beverages facility available at the top.
> With little more efforts, Hajar Mountains has potential to become a regular weekend getaway for Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman residents and can generate a sizeable revenues for the emirate.
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A view of Jable Jais Mountain Ras al Khaimah. KT Photo: Rahul Gajjar
Jebel Al Jais has become a popular destination for enthusiastic drivers, sightseers and picnickers. — Photo by Rahul Gajjar
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