Ajman, one of the UAE’s northern emirates, has been building up its portfolio, one impressive hotel at a time. The five-star Oberoi Beach Resort, Al Zorah, opened its doors earlier this year and Wyndham Garden Ajman Corniche and Radisson Blu are both slated to open by close of this year.
The new kayaking facility at Al Zorah Mangroves is gathering traction as the weather becomes more welcoming and a wakeboard cable park, to be launched soon at the Al Zorah Development, will be sure to attract water sports enthusiasts.
Furthermore, the Ajman Pearl Dhow cruise launched at the Al Zorah Marina provides a unique edutainment experience to enrich people’s knowledge on the history of the pearling industry in the region. The cruise journey includes an oyster opening demonstration alongside the mangroves and the creek.
Earlier this year, Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman, opened Ajman’s first sports park, in Al Hameedeya. It was built at a cost of Dh5 million ($1.3 million) and covers an area of 40,000 square metres. Another interesting attraction is Ajman Qubes, which is a take on Boxpark, but with more authentic, local flavours. New attractions to look forward to, include Ajman Marina and Al Zorah Marina.
Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, director general of Ajman Department of Tourism Development, tells us that the emirate has 3,405 rooms in its hotel inventory, with more to come. The most important feeder markets for Ajman this year are the UAE, Asia and Africa, other Arab nations and GCC countries, Europe, Russia and the US.
Ajman Tourism is participating at WTM London this year along with partners Ajman Saray, Al Zorah Development, Fairmont Ajman, Kempinski Hotel Ajman, Musandam Sea Adventure travel & tourism, Radisson Blu, SNTTA Emir Tours, The Oberoi Beach Resort Al Zorah and Wyndham Garden Ajman Corniche.
Al Geziry tells us that the focus will be to increase awareness of the emirate, as a hidden gem. “Sincerely Emirati” is the marketing motto Ajman is adopting, and this authentic Emirati experience can be found in various locations around Ajman, away from the hustle and bustle of a big city. The focus will be on highlighting the emirate’s authentic cuisine and sports activities.
As part of its strategy to highlight Ajman’s unique tourist attractions and promote the emirate at an international level, the Ajman Department of Tourism Development (ADTD) recently participated in promotional roadshows in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe/CIS.
The first roadshow was held in cooperation with Emirates Airlines and started on September 25, in Copenhagen (Denmark), followed by events in Oslo (Norway) and Stockholm (Sweden).
The second roadshow, arranged in partnership with FlyDubai, officially began in Kiev, Ukraine on October 8, followed by events in Yerevan, Armenia and Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Over the course of the weeks, ADTD held a series of meetings and events with major travel and tourism operators to promote its tourist attractions and highlight the major tourism and investment projects developed by the department to attract more tourists to the emirate.