The Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (Ras Al Khaimah TDA) announced today that the total number of visitors to the emirate until end of November 2012 was recorded at 1,001,495 visitors achieving the 2012 target of 1 million visitors one month ahead of schedule and generating a revenue boost at almost AED 582.7 million (U$ 144 million).

The 2012 visitors until November 2012 to Ras Al Khaimah came from various source markets including Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ukraine and Czech Republic, with Germany, as its strongest source market with more than 283,733 visitors followed by the United Arab Emirates with 267,616 visitors and Russia with 136,430 visitors.

With regards to hotel occupancy, overall, Ras Al Khaimah hotels, including the Beach Resorts and City Hotels performed very well from January to November 2012, showing impressive growth in all key areas with 2.19% for the Beach Resorts and same average as 2011 for City Hotels. Revenue per Available Room (RevPar) improved by 22.41 for the Beach Resorts and 6.78% for the City Hotels, resulting in total hotel revenue increasing to almost AED 582.7 million (U$ 144 million), which translates as an increase of 45.7% compared to 2011 figures.

Commenting on the remarkable figures, Victor Louis, Chief Operating Officer, Ras Al Khaimah TDA said: “Ras Al Khaimah TDA was established in May 2011 and for the second year, we have exceeded our targets: in 2011 we have welcomed 835,200 exceeding 2011 target to receive 800,000 visitors and we achieved the 2012 target of welcoming 1 million visitors one month ahead of schedule. 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 capability and attractiveness as a tourist and tourism investment destination”.

Since the establishment of the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority in May 2011, and following the vision and guidelines laid down by His Highness Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, the authority has positioned and highlighted this rising emirate as an affordable luxury destination for leisure and adventure with a diversity of landscapes and world class hotels and facilities, on the international tourism map. In addition to a robust marketing and promotional programme implemented within the UAE and GCC (The Cooperation Council For the Arab States of the Gulf), special attention has also been given to various European markets, from which charter flights direct to Ras Al Khaimah have been launched and marketing and promotional campaigns enacted.

Louis comments: “Our targets have been set since Ras Al Khaimah TDA has been established in May 2011: welcoming 1.2 million visitors by 2013 and increasing the hotel room inventory to 10,000 rooms by 2016. We are working towards achieving these goals, where new attractions, hotels and resorts are already scheduled to open including the 349-room Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah luxury brand property, the 632-room resort Bab Al Bahr, both scheduled to open in 2013; the 340- key DoubleTree by Hilton Resort, Marjan Island, scheduled to open in 2014 and the 442-rooms Crowne Plaza Ras Al Khaimah scheduled to open in 2015 on the Al Marjan Islands. We are also continuing the charter flights from European destinations as well as explore potential charter flights opportunities from further European cities directly to Ras Al Khaimah.”