Fujairah targets tourism for growth (page 1 of 2)

Fujairah, with its location on the east coast of the UAE, is probably the most beautiful of the emirates. Along with its sandy beaches, the emirate has the Hajar Mountains and historic monuments such as old castles. These have made Fujairah an internal tourist destination for the UAE residents, but recently the emirate has begun to witness an increasing flow of people from Europe - mainly Russia and Germany.

However, Fujairah's tourist industry is still young, leading the government to take steps to develop it further to put the emirate on holiday makers' maps.

"What Fujairah mainly lacks is enough rooms and this is something we need to handle fast. Le Meridien Al Aqah was a good start to positioning Fujairah on the tourism map. But a lot still needs to be done and this is happening now,' Mohammed Bin Majed Al Aleeli, Director General of the Department of Industry and Economy in Fujairah said.

Al Aleeli sees that Fujairah's strategic location will help develop its tourism sector. He added: "The emirate overlooks the Indian Ocean and is located outside the Strait of Hormuz, which is a hot spot worldwide. This has made it a navigation hub and an ideal transit point for oil ships, and this gives the emirate the power to support other industries such as tourism."

As well as rooms, Fujairah needs to develop its tourist villages, entertainment and tours programmes, and most of all shopping malls. For Al Aleeli, tourism is not just about a beach and hotel room but more of a complete programme that must include entertainment, diving, and mountain climbing as the emirate's nature allows for such things.

Mega plans for Fujairah

Last year, the Fujairah government allocated Dhs2.94bn to develop its tourism over the coming five years. Still Patrick Antaki, General Manager of Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach resort, believes the emirate has experienced rapid growth over the past five years.

"When we first opened there was nobody in this place and today we have many competitors. We happened to be the first new hotel to open in 25 years and the first five-star hotel in the history of the place. Now, there are other developments underway, two hotels have just opened, one is about to open and two are claiming the land and probably will be kicking off within a couple of years."

Three mega projects are underway in Fujairah. This includes the Mina Al Fajer Resort, a Dhs600m sea-front community, the contract for which was awarded in early June to the Malaysian Tidalmarine Engineering and is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. Mina Al Fajer will be managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and will consist of a marina, 48 mountain villas, 13 solarium villas, and 80 marina apartments, in addition to a 200-room five-star hotel.

The other two mega projects are the Radisson Al Aqah Beach resort, consisting of 320 rooms and scheduled to open by 2009 as well, and the Dana Project on the coast line consisting of 350 villas and 11 hotels.

"Developing a 2km coastline for tourism and hotel development is a significant sign that the area is taking off. It's one of the most beautiful areas; it has got the Indian Ocean and the mountains," Antaki points out.

Linking with Dubai

Infrastructure is definitely one area that needs to be addressed by the government of Fujairah if it is to stimulate tourism. Early this year, the Ministry of Public Works commenced work on the Dubai-Fujairah highway, a 45km road costing an estimated Dhs1.12bn.