Drop in Russian-speaking visitors to UAE resort, offset by others

A camel herder walks near the village of Adhen, Ras al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates July 16, 2019. REUTERS/Christopher Pike

DUBAI, May 10 (Reuters) – The number of Russian-speaking tourists to the city of Ras Al Khaimah, which is part of the United Arab Emirates, has fallen since Russia invaded Ukraine, but visitors from other markets compensated for this decline and overall visits are up this year. , an official said on Tuesday.

Raki Phillips, chief executive of the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, said tourists from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other former Soviet states typically make up 10% of annual visitors to the emirate. from the north about 120 kilometers from Dubai.

“However, during the crisis, of course, there has been an impact, but we are such a resilient and very international destination in our visitor arrivals that we have not seen a big drop in numbers,” he said. he told Reuters at the Arabian Travel Market. trade fair in Dubai.

“Overall, we’ve seen a big increase in new markets for us. We’ve been able to pivot, focus on Latin America, focus on the Indian market, and GCC has been a big priority for us. All these markets have been able to compensate for all the changes we have seen in the Russian market.”

The first quarter of this year saw an 8% growth in visitor arrivals compared to the first quarter of 2019, he said. The fourth quarter of 2021 saw growth of approximately 5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

Before the pandemic, in 2019, RAK attracted around 1.1 million arrivals. Last year it attracted just under a million visitors and this year it is expected to reach over 1.1 million “and we are aiming to attract almost 1.2 million visitors,” Phillips said.

Phillips touted a multi-billion dollar investment by Wynn Resorts as a testament to investor interest in the emirate’s tourism industry.

An integrated resort planned by Wynn Resorts, slated to open in 2026, will offer “gaming”, a commonly used euphemism for gambling, which would be a first in Arab Gulf countries.

Sources told Reuters gambling would be allowed. UAE officials have not publicly commented on plans for the “gaming” station.

Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Bernadette Baum

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.