Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates: The Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) has unveiled a groundbreaking new sustainability strategy, dubbed Balanced Tourism, as part of its plan to accelerate sector growth and establish itself as a regional leader in environmentally responsible tourism by 2025. The vision, which was introduced at the Arabian Travel Market 2022, the region's premier travel and tourism event, highlights the Emirate's leadership within conscious tourism and is consistent with its character as a nature destination with a drive for advancement, growth and evolution. Under the umbrella term "Balanced Tourist," the Authority is influencing the direction of the UAE's tourism industry by prioritizing all facets of sustainability (environment, culture, biodiversity, as well as livability). It is building a destination that will connect with today's responsible traveler by avoiding difficulties around "over-tourism," such as excessive construction, congestion of cultural sites, and the destruction of its unique natural environment.

Sustainable Development

Ras Al Khaimah is sometimes called the "nature Emirate" because of its 64 kilometers of untouched beaches, wildlife-rich mangroves, undulating terracotta deserts, spectacular wadis, and breathtaking mountains. These natural features are essential to the destination's appeal, thus ensuring their safety is a top priority. Therefore, the tourist board has taken a deliberate approach to the pipeline of new hotels, collaborating with hospitality partners to guarantee large venues with intelligent, ecological landscaping and avoiding hasty, less well-planned growth and congestion.

The Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, which grants licenses for new hotels, is in a prime position to establish regulations and norms for hotels' compliance with environmental requirements. For example, the newly announced Wynn Resort will be built following the Barjeel Green Building Regulations, and it is slated to open in 2026. Said Mountain Lodge, a protected as well as sustainably managed mountain village featuring financially viable lodges made from natural as well as sustainable materials, will open on Jebel Jais in 2023, as well as Earth Hotels Altitude, an eco-based pop-up hotel concept, will open there in the fourth quarter of 2022 with 15 fully fitted residential apartments, an activation center, and a swimming pool.

Cultural Conservation

The integrated method also prioritizes preserving cultural artifacts. Ras Al Khaimah has far more than any other Emirate four archaeological sites that are provisionally included on the UNESCO World Heritage site list because of the area's significance as a commerce route. The Authority has devised a comprehensive investment strategy to preserve and improve these and other significant cultural assets. Among them is the Suwaidi Pearls Farm, which, to this day, is the only location in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to produce native pearls manually. Also, it has begun a three-part rehabilitation project in Jazirah Al Hamra, one of the last remaining pearl-diving and maritime communities in the Arabian Gulf. Restoration of the hamlet, following UNESCO rules, is underway, with completion expected in 2025. The work will use both traditional and sustainable building methods.

Attractions With Purpose

All future attractions within the Balanced Tourism framework will be designed with sustainability. More than 20 new sustainable tourism projects are being established around the Emirate so that visitors can anticipate ecologically responsible development all around Jebel Jais. The Scallop Ranch from Al Hamra Marine, for instance, will be the first of its type in the United Arab Emirates and will help people learn more about the marine environment by raising scallops and other species, as well as providing a home for seagrass and sea cucumbers.

Community And Liveability

And as part of its Balanced Tourism philosophy, the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Authority has also embraced the idea of livability. As a result of this and other progressive measures taken to improve working conditions, Great Place to Work® ranked the Authority as the sixth best workplace in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) among small and medium-sized businesses in 2022. This makes the Authority the highest-ranked government agency in the UAE. It has become the first and only company in Ras Al Khaimah to get the Best Workplaces for Women as well as Great Place to Work in 2021 awards. Moreover, the Authority has launched ROCKFAM, a set of programmes designed to improve the Emirate's tourist industry workers' access to information and communication technologies and social and recreational opportunities.

The Role Of Sustainability In Development As A Driver

At the 2021 Global Citizen Forum held in Ras Al Khaimah last December, government agencies, hotels, and private sector industries made a joint commitment to implement the Emirate's Efficient Tourism Destination Strategy to make Ras Al Khaimah the region's green tourism leader by 2025.

The guiding principles provide a structure for a wide range of activities, and they are as follows:

• Conserving and improving the Emirate's historical and natural resources
• Creating Future Sustainable Tourism
• By collaborating with private enterprises, public agencies, and non-profit organizations, we can increase the tourist industry's economic impact and boost the local workforce.
• Checking in regularly to measure and compare
• The area's overall use of energy, water, and trash is reduced.
• I am maintaining a commitment to cultural preservation and community safety.

Conclusion

In September 2021, the Authority unveiled its Sustainable Destination Attractiveness Strategy, which aims to ensure the Emirate's protracted sustainability as well as drive exponential development through the four key pillars: Commission On environment and development, Cultural Preservation of natural resources, Attractions Built with Purpose, as well as Community as well as Liveability.