Ras Al Khaimah, one of the fastest growing tourism markets in the region, is set to surpass the number of tourists it received in 2022, driven by more direct airline connections and the emirate’s efforts to bring attract tourists from India and China.
The tourism sector in Ras Al Khaimah, which is positioning itself as a sustainable and nature destination, has recovered strongly from the pandemic-driven slowdown and attracted a record 1.13 million visitors last year.
“Our goal for 2023 is to exceed that”, Raki Phillips, chief executive of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA), told The National on Wednesday.
“We're very pleased with the results that we had in 2022, superseding 2019 results [before the pandemic], but our goal is to continue to grow.”
The 15.6 per cent annual jump in overall visitor numbers in the emirate was driven by a 40 per surge in international tourists from its key source markets, including Kazakhstan, Russia, the UK, Czech Republic and Germany.
“We closed 2022 with 55 per cent domestic and 45 per cent international visitors. Year-to-date that has switched around. We're seeing more international travellers versus domestic,” he said.
The emirate is now focusing on the Indian and Chinese markets, key sources of tourists for the larger Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets.
“We just had our record February number of arrivals … and I think that will set us on the right track” to exceed last year’s performance, Mr Phillips said.
It will be a couple of years before China becomes one of the top five source markets for the emirate, but it has great potential for growth and even a gradual rise in the number of Chinese tourists will help the tourism authority achieve its targets, he said.
India is “low-hanging fruit” and the emirate has taken several measures to boost Indian tourists’ arrival in Ras Al Khaimah, he said.
The emirate is aiming for a 70:30 split, where 70 of its visitors will be international and 30 per cent domestic “in the next three to four years”, he added.
Ras Al Khaimah’s tourism and leisure sector received “billions of dollars” worth of foreign direct investment in 2022 and the emirate is set to exceed that number in 2023.
Investments made by Aldar, Abu Dhabi’s biggest listed developer, in Ras Al Khaimah’s prime assets are examples of the emirate's success in attracting investment.
In November last year, Aldar Properties acquired a beachfront plot in Ras Al Khaimah from master developer Marjan, with plans to combine the plot with land purchased as part of the DoubleTree by Hilton Resort & Spa Marjan Island acquisition earlier in 2022, in a Dh810 million ($220.55 million) deal.
In April, Aldar bought Rixos Bab Al Bahr hotel in Ras Al Khaimah in a Dh770 million transaction, and in February it acquired Al Hamra Mall in a $111.6 million deal, which was its first investment outside Abu Dhabi.
Ras Al Khaimah — which has the world's longest zip line at Jebel Jais, 64km of coastline, adventure tourism offerings and heritage sites such as Al Jazirah Al Hamra — has traditionally been popular with UAE residents and visitors from CIS markets.
The tourism sector in the emirate is set for a further boost from more international airlines establishing direct connectivity, Mr Phillips said.
Earlier this month, Qatar Airways said it will start direct flights from Doha to Ras Al Khaimah, which the airline has not operated since 2017.
The emirate will be Qatar Airways' fourth destination in the UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, with flights scheduled to resume on November 1.
On Wednesday, RAKTDA announced its agreement with FTI Group, a Germany-based outbound tour operator, which will operate twice-weekly flights from Munich to RAK Airport, starting in the fourth quarter of this year.
The emirate also aims to boost the cruise industry and continue to push for doubling its hotel room keys to about 16,000 in the next three to five years.
“We had 8,000 keys in the market last year … but now we're looking at doubling the inventory, so for us, it's so important to continuously grow our visitor arrival numbers, and to be able to achieve success for our hotel partners”, Mr Phillips said.
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Read more about the coronavirus
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
RESULT
Brazil 2 Croatia 0
Brazil: Neymar (69'), Firmino (90' 3)
The specs: 2019 Audi A8
Price From Dh390,000
Engine 3.0L V6 turbo
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 345hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy, combined 7.5L / 100km
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
FORSPOKEN
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Starfield
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Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Company%20profile
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
THE 12 BREAKAWAY CLUBS
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
