Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA)On the sidelines of the PATA Annual Summit (PAS 2025) that took place in İstanbul, Türkiye, TDM got the chance to speak to Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) in the UAE.
Phillips is responsible for the continued growth of the Emirate as a world-class tourism destination. Talking passionately about the destination he said: “Ras Al Khaimah is a wonderful destination that caters to travellers from all over the world. We have a specific campaign where we're really promoting the beauty of the destination, everything from Jabel Jais, the highest mountain in the UAE to our 68 km of beachfront, and the beautiful desert topography that we have. It's a great place for families. It's a great place for individuals and the hotel collection that we have is second to none”
Sharing statistics he said: “So we've seen a significant growth in our inbound travellers globally, but also from Asia, specifically. We have seen a 12% growth YOY from Asia, this a growth we hope will continue throughout the year. The Indian market, continues to be one of our biggest, added to by proximity and great connectivity. It’s just 45 minutes from the Dubai International Airport. Moreover, the safety that the Emirates provides makes it a very attractive destination for the Asian traveller.”
Elaborating on outbound trends he said, “Outbound tourism out of the UAE and Ras Al Khaimah is growing. In Asia, Japan seems to be on top of the list, especially during the “Eid break”. Europe continues to do well, people are also looking for some new destinations, that they have not explored previously, places like Georgia, Armenia are coming up. We are also seeing a lot of people traveling domestically to experience other parts of the UAE.”
12 per cent of the UAE’s GDP comes from Tourism. He went on to say: “Ras Al Khaimah is going through an incredible transformation. Last year, we welcomed just under 1.3 million tourists, but our goal at the end of the decade is three and a half million tourists. That is the reason we need to diversify our source markets.”
Talking about the source markets he concluded: “We do very well in some of our key source markets, UK Germany, CIS Region, India, China has now come into our top 10 and we're very excited to welcome them. Another Asian country that is so important to target from the tourism perspective. And with the campaigns when we show the accessibility and beauty of the destination to the source markets, it makes it very promising.”
