RAK, UAE, September 7, 2008: Tourist arrivals in Ras Al Khaimah surged by 28 per cent in 2007, its most significant increase in the last few years, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism said on Sunday.

RAK Tourism manager Hilary McCormack said the official number of tourists visiting the emirate per annum is around 215,000, excluding day visitors. "A lot of our tourists are coming from European countries like Germany, France and Italy. We are focusing on increasing the number of tourists from Russia," she said.

Nearly two dozen five-star hotels are poised to open in Ras Al Khaimah in the next five years. They are expected to more than double the current supply of hotel rooms, thus helping to accommodate the 2.5 million tourists the emirate aims to attract by 2012.