Luxury mountain camp to open next year in Ras Al Khaimah

Jebel Jais will also see the presence of a Survival Academy along with many additions like hiking and mountain biking trails.

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Published: Sun 22 Jul 2018, 10:56 PM

Last updated: Mon 23 Jul 2018, 1:00 AM

Visitors to Ras Al Khaimah will soon be able to enjoy luxury mountain camping at Jebel Jais, according to a top official at the RAK Tourism Development Authority.

Jebel Jais will also see the presence of a Survival Academy along with many additions like hiking and mountain biking trails. "The emirate will open doors to a 37-room luxury mountain camp by December 2019. The survival training academy is due for completion in the third quarter of 2019 and 64.72km of hiking and mountain biking trails are also to be opened next year," said Haitham Mattar, CEO of RAK Tourism Development Authority.

"Jebel Jais Zipline, the longest in the world, has so far witnessed over 10,000 riders, in its phase two launching at the end of this year will feature an additional zipline cable to enhance capacity together with an adventure park," he added.

With rising number of international visitors, about 14 per cent in the first half of 2018, the emirate is gearing up for massive developments in the emirate. International markets accounted for 66 per cent of visitors from January to June this year, with significant increase in Russian visitors, up by 50 per cent. "Germany remained the second biggest source market, followed by the UK. The Nordic region also remained strong, seeing 21.3 per cent growth since the start of the year," he said.

"Emerging markets continued their upward trajectory with Czech Republic up 34 per cent, Kazakhstan up 22.1 per cent, and Poland up 6.3 per cent compared to the same period last year. In the region, overall growth from the GCC increased 4.6 per cent with visitors from KSA topping the arrivals list.

Availability of hotel stay is a major key to support the increasing popularity of the destination with both international and domestic tourists, Mattar underlined.

"Plans are already in place to add 5,600 rooms to the 6,500 currently available in the emirate over the next three years. The aim is to further grow to over 12,000 hotel rooms by 2022 to accommodate the ever-growing number of visitors. Hotel performance had remained strong in the first half of the year with occupancy rates consistent at 73.3 per cent and average room rate increasing 5.5 per cent compared to the same period last year."

Mattar said they are on track to exceed our projection of one million visitors by the end of the year. "Our focus remains on sustainable development with new products and accommodation 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 their proposition to capitalise on the global adventure tourism industry and secure further interest from investors in this growing segment, he pointed out. "We envision a globally recognised destination attracting three million visitors and contributing Dh3.5 billion to the Emirate's GDP by 2025."

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

• Ras Al Khaimah