Mr Viral
Ras Al Khaimah has been positioned as the UAE’s next big tourist hub as Wynn Resorts prepares for its 2027 integrated resort opening.
Wynn Resorts expects to benefit from an almost 30% annual growth rate in visitors to Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), the Emirate where its UAE-based resort is expected to open in March 2027.
Wynn Al Marjan Island will be the UAE’s first integrated casino resort, as Wynn Resorts secured the country’s initial land-based casino licence from the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) in October 2024.
Each Emirate will be able to offer one casino licence, per GCGRA gambling regulation. However, Sharjah will not be providing a licence.
In a private presentation to analysts and investors on Thursday, Wynn Resorts talked up the tourism opportunity in RAK, drawing from forecasts made by the local tourist board and the RAK Centre for Statistics & Studies.
Visitors to the Emirate are expected to increase by a compound annual growth rate of 26.8% to 5.3 million in 2030, while overnight guests will increase to 9.6 million in 2030, based on a CAGR of 13.4%.
RAK’s huge investment in tourism
RAK’s tourism and hospitality sector is expected to record annual revenue growth of 12% year-on-year to 2030, as hotel room numbers increase to 8,800 in the next five years.
Breaking down the sector’s anticipated growth, Alison Grinell, CEO for RAK Hospitality Holdings, told analysts four- and five-star resorts would make up the vast majority of hotels in the Emirate (91.7%).
RAK Hospitality is the Emirate’s state-owned hospitality developer, which is working in partnership with Wynn on the project. Hotel key supply for the four- and five-star venues is expected to increase by 134% by 2030, Grinell said.
Wynn Resorts also reported that land prices on the Al Marjan island where its integrated resort is based have almost tripled since 2021, just before its project was announced in January 2022.
In the following year 22 land sales transactions were made in the Emirate, and the average achieved sales price per square foot increased from $86 in 2022 to $207 in September of this year.
A number of additional hotel and resort projects in RAK have been announced since Wynn’s IR commenced work, including a JW Marriott, Nikki Beach resort, a Fairmont hotel and, most recently in November, Wynn’s partner Marjan announced plans for the Janu al Marjan Island resort.
UAE gaming GGR could reach $5 billion
Additionally, the Emirate will be boosted by planned expansions to its road system and local airport terminal. This goes along with new transport links, additional schools and housing to support economic growth, Grinell explained. A new tourist zone called RAK Central will play a key role in the Emirate’s development as a tourist hub, similar to the neighbouring city of Dubai.
Wynn Resorts reiterated its $2 billion to $5 billion GGR forecast for the UAE’s gambling sector during the presentation, as it expects two additional IRs will be established in the country.
The operator is expected to maintain a market share of 33%, with a GGR of up to $1.7 billion. It forecasts GGR per adult in the UAE could reach $180, which would put the UAE just behind Las Vegas with its $211 per adult GGR.
Considering GGR as a percentage of GDP, it expects the UAE to be higher than the USA at 0.94%, compared to 0.29%.
The Wynn Al Marjan is still eyeing a March 2027 opening. The interior is the next phase of development for the resort, while pre-opening is planned for Q4 2026 to Q1 2027. The majority of the IR’s external development has been completed, including 70% of the facade’s glazing.
Online licensing moving faster than land-based in UAE
While other casino licences are expected to be handed out by the GCGRA, the regulator said in November 2024 it would take its time in issuing them. MGM Resorts has been very vocal about its intention to gain one of the remaining casino licences in the UAE, but the process is slow.
“The process has been moving very deliberately here,” Murren said during a November 2024 event. “The government has been very clear they want to have a state of the art, highly compliant, very rigorous regulatory regime to make sure this is going to be world class from a regulatory perspective. Nothing we are doing is going to rush that at all.
Things have moved much faster in the online world as the first online licence was awarded to UAE lottery operator The Game LLC in July 2024. Momentum was also the first to launch iGaming in the UAE via its Play971 brand in Abu Dhabi in November, as reported by iGB.
Sources have suggested the site is undergoing a trial rollout in a limited area, with an official launch planned for the first quarter of 2026.
A handful of vendor licences for both online and land-based gaming have been awarded by the GCGRA. Yolo Group is among the suppliers looking to gain a foothold in the region.
Speaking to iGB in November, Yolo’s B2B CEO Lara Falzon said: “Beyond the commercial opportunity it represents, [our UAE licence] fundamentally changes Yolo’s positioning in the market.
“The licence has elevated our credibility and opened new conversations that weren’t possible before. It’s a strong foundation for the next phase of our growth.”
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