Ras Al Khaimah is known as the ‘nature Emirate’ due its top magnificent natural assets amongst all the emirates
In its strategy to drive overall sector growth and become the regional leader in sustainable tourism by 2025, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) announced a new approach to sustainability, ‘Balanced Tourism’ at the ATM Dubai 2022.
Under the theme ‘Balanced Tourism,’ RAKTDA says it is placing all aspects of sustainability such as culture and environment at the centre of its investment and development strategy. It is also making sure that issues involving ‘over tourism,’ such as over development and crowding of attraction sites are avoided.
Ras Al Khaimah says it is working on creating a destination that will resonate with today’s responsible traveller.
Prior to announcing its plans on ATM Dubai 2022, RAKTDA had already announced ‘Balanced Tourism’ in September 2021 to secure the Emirate’s long-term sustainability and drive overall growth through four key pillars: Sustainable Development; Cultural Conservation; Attractions Built with Purpose and Community & Liveability.
“The need for good stewardship of our cultural heritage, environment, people and infrastructure has never been stronger, especially in post pandemic times. Balanced Tourism does exactly that as we become ever mindful of the economic, social and environmental impacts on tourism. Simply put, it’s time to move beyond just using less plastic to adopting an all-inclusive approach – from ensuring new projects such as hotels are developed at an organic pace to building new attractions with sustainability at their core,” says Raki Phillips, Chief Executive Officer of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority.
Ras Al Khaimah is known as the ‘nature Emirate’ due its top magnificent natural assets amongst all the emirates. Keeping in mind that these natural assets are the key values that form the destination’s backbone, the tourism board says it has applied a mindful approach to new hotel developments. It consulted with hospitality partners to ensure spacious venues, limited new properties to just two per year to avoid overcrowding and mandated sustainable landscaping.
As the licensing authority for all new hotel developments, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority is able to set guidelines and protocols to regulate sustainability standards and work closely with hotels to ensure sustainable practices. This includes the recently announced integrated Wynn Resort, scheduled to open in 2026, that will be developed as per the Barjeel Green Building Regulations.
RAKTDA’s integrated approach also includes cultural conservation. Being the most fortified Emirate, with over 65 forts, Ras Al Khaimah is home to four archaeological sites which are tentatively on the UNESCO World Heritage site list, more than any other Emirate. Keeping this in view the Authority has established a long-term investment plan to protect and enhance these and other key cultural projects.
Under the ‘Balanced Tourism’ platform, all upcoming attractions will be built with purpose of sustainability standards and processes. Visitors can expect witnessing environmentally conscious development around Jebel Jais along with more than 20 new sustainable tourism initiatives being developed across the Emirate. One of the example is the planned Scallop Ranch at Al Hamra Marine, which is a first of its kind attraction in the UAE that will support and enhance understanding of the marine ecosystem, with seagrass and sea cucumber species within the farm.
Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Authority has also embraced the concept of ‘liveability’ as part of its Balanced Tourism approach. This includes several progressive policies in place to promote employee well-being, leading the destination to be named the sixth best workplace in the UAE. Prior to this the destination had been named one of the Best Workplaces for Women and a Great Place to Work in 2021. The Authority has also introduced RAKFAM, a series of initiatives aimed at enriching connectivity, community life and facilities for tourism sector employees in the Emirate.
