Ras Al Khaimah attracted one million tourists in 2018

New figures highlight the year-on-year growth in the region’s tourism sector, helping to drive the local economy and the demand for real estate investment.

It’s official – over one million tourists visited Ras Al Khaimah in 2018.

That’s according to the latest figures from the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAK TDA), which reports a 10% increase in visitor numbers compared to 2017.

In total, 1,072,066 domestic and international tourists visited RAK last year, with the northern emirate achieving its target set in 2016 of achieving one million holidaymakers by the end of 2018.

Tourists from within the UAE led the way, with visitors from other parts of the country making up 38% of all tourist numbers.

Germany was the largest international tourist market with 83,605 visitors, followed by Russia (83,531) and the UK (63,054).

One of the key drivers of the growth was the launch of Jebel Jais Flight; since opening at the start of 2018, the world’s longest zipline has welcomed 25,000 thrill seekers to try its unique adventure experience.

“2018 has been another remarkable year for the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in terms of achievements and milestones accomplished, primarily exceeding our target of 1 million visitors,” said Haitham Mattar, CEO of RAK TDA.

“With the current robust visitor demand, solid regional and international partnerships in place and iconic product launches over the past few years, Ras Al Khaimah is on a mission to further assert its position as the fastest growing tourism destination in the region, whilst promoting our emirate’s breadth of offerings to regional and international target markets.”

The significant growth means as many as 10,000 new jobs in RAK’s hospitality sector look set to be created, while up to 6,500 new hotel rooms could be delivered over the next three years.

There’s never been a better time to own a dream holiday property in one of the Middle East’s fastest expanding tourist destinations.