Ras Al Khaimah attracted 10% more visitors last year as arrivals rose to more than one million with the emirate targeting a tripling of numbers by 2025.
The UK was the third largest international source market, with 63,054 visitors, up 11.5% on 2017, but behind Germany and Russia.
Further tourism development is planned, including a 47 room luxury mountain camp, a survival training academy, 64.72km of hiking trails and an adventure park.
A three-year destination strategy trough to 2021 will focus on diversifying the emirate’s tourism offering to attract a wider segment of tourists and higher yield visitors looking for authentic experiences.
The emirate is preparing to add 5,000 hotel rooms to the 6,500 currently available with the confirmed introduction of brands including Marriott, Movenpick, Sheraton, Anantara, Rezidor, InterContinental and Conrad over the next three years.
Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority CEO Haitham Mattar said: “As our tourism offering evolves, we must ensure our destination is attractive to travelers who wish to explore beyond the resorts and hotels.
“Through our new destination strategy 2019-2021 we will continue to create compelling offerings that combine the emirate’s key promises – pristine beaches, natural beauty, culture and heritage, excellence in hospitality and unrivalled experiences – in order to attract close to 1.5 million visitors by 2021, and three million visitors by 2025.”
