For a few tense weeks this spring, the question on every WhatsApp group in Ras Al Khaimah was the same one: Is it safe, and should I stay? Flights thinned out, hotel lobbies went quiet, and a place that had just clocked its best-ever year suddenly felt like it was holding its breath. That mood has lifted. Following the US-Iran peace agreement signed on 17 June 2026, the UK and several other governments have removed the UAE from their “advise against travel” lists, and the early signs of a tourism rebound are already showing up across the emirate.
Here is the honest, ground-level picture of what has changed, what is open again, and what you can realistically expect if you are planning to visit RAK or talk a nervous relative into booking that flight.
The travel warnings have been scrapped
The single biggest shift for visitors is paperwork most people never read until it ruins a holiday: government travel advisories. After the peace deal, the UK Foreign Office removed the UAE from its list of destinations it had warned citizens against, and other countries have followed with the same easing. In plain terms, that means travel insurance is valid again, package holidays are back on sale, and the airlines can sell seats without an asterisk next to the destination.
It matters more than it sounds. A live advisory does not just scare people off; it quietly voids a lot of insurance policies and freezes corporate travel. Lifting it is the green light the whole industry was waiting for. If you want the practical details on the security situation rather than the headlines, our running explainer on whether RAK is safe right now is kept current.
WOW-RAK Expert Tip: Before you rebook anything, check the official advisory page for your own passport country, not a forwarded screenshot from a group chat. Advisories were lifted on different dates by different governments, and your insurer cares about the wording on the day you travel, not the day your cousin saw a news clip.
RAK was never where the story was happening
This is worth saying clearly because fear travels faster than facts. Ras Al Khaimah sits at the northern tip of the UAE, well away from any of the activity that drove the advisories, and daily life here carried on through the whole period. The malls stayed open, Jebel Jais kept running its viewing deck and zip line, schools finished their term and the beaches at Al Marjan and Mina Al Arab were exactly as they always are. What changed was confidence and bookings, not the destination itself.
The numbers back that up in an unexpected way. Even at the low point, RAK recorded a 93 percent jump in domestic visitors from April compared with the same month last year, as UAE residents leaned into staycations close to home. Weekend hotel occupancy at some properties still pushed past 70 percent even while the overall April average sat near 32 percent. People who knew the emirate kept coming. The rebound now is really about the rest of the world catching up to what locals never doubted.
What is open and booking up again
Everything on the visitor map is operating normally. The headline attractions, the adventure stuff up on Jebel Jais, the beach resorts on Al Marjan Island and the dining and desert experiences inland, are all running their regular schedules. If you want the full menu, our guide to things to do in Ras Al Khaimah covers it season by season.
A few specifics worth knowing as you plan:
- Jebel Jais is open as usual. Note that access is no longer free; you now need a Dh10 viewing deck ticket or a confirmed activity booking, so build that into your plan rather than turning up cold.
- Al Marjan Island and Mina Al Arab beaches and resorts are fully operational, and this is where hotels are dropping their best summer deals to win back business.
- RAK International Airport and the road links down to Dubai are running normally, with the usual coach and shuttle options between the two emirates.
WOW-RAK Expert Tip: The window right after a rebound is the cheapest time to travel, not the most expensive. Hotels that lost two months of bookings are competing hard to fill rooms, so this summer is a rare moment to land a five-star RAK weekend at a price that usually only shows up in the deepest August lull. Book direct and ask what they can do on the rate.
The momentum did not actually stop
Here is the part that gets lost in the worry. While the headlines were focused elsewhere, Ras Al Khaimah spent the first half of 2026 quietly getting on with one of the busiest building phases in its history. The emirate opened the year with a record run, posting 7.5 percent year-on-year growth in arrivals in February before the March slowdown, then pivoted hard to the domestic market and held its footing. The groundwork for the next few years kept moving the entire time.
A quick scoreboard of what has already landed or advanced this year:
- New hotels coming online. Rotana The Mangroves and Saij, a Mountain Lodge by Mantis up on Jebel Jais, joined the line-up, with the InterContinental Ras Al Khaimah Resort and Spa and the Sofitel Al Hamra Beach Resort both on track for delivery this year.
- RAK Central took shape. Radisson signed its first property in the new RAK Central district, the 361-key Radisson Blu, sitting above retail and cinema, a signal that the business and city side of the emirate is growing alongside the beaches.
- More ways to fly in. The route map widened with new connections from cities including Moscow, Bucharest, Jeddah, Prague, and Hyderabad, deepening the India, China, UK, and Russia markets that drive a lot of RAK’s arrivals.
- The airport is scaling up. RAK International Airport pressed ahead with a new 30,000 sqm terminal that will lift capacity from 1.5 million to 3.5 million passengers a year, plus a dedicated private aviation and VVIP terminal with its own hangars and helipad to court the high-end traveller. The build is targeted for 2028.
- Wynn kept climbing. The 548-meter bridge linking Wynn Al Marjan Island to the wider road network passed the halfway mark, and the staff community that will house most of the resort’s workforce is due to open this summer, both on schedule for the 2027 opening.
- Fresh projects kept launching. Developers announced major new schemes on Marjan Beach this year, led by Beyond’s Dh25 billion Evermore masterplan, alongside branded names like Nobu Residences and Zaha Hadid-designed homes on Al Marjan. If you follow the property side, our RAK real estate guide breaks down what is launching where.
- The supply story is real. Analysts at Colliers project RAK will add around 4,200 hotel keys by the end of 2026, roughly a 51 percent jump in the emirate’s entire room inventory in under two years.
None of that is the behaviour of a destination in retreat. It is the behaviour of one that took a short, sharp knock to bookings and kept building toward a much bigger 2027. For a visitor, the takeaway is simple: you are arriving in an emirate with more rooms, more flights, and more to do than it had a year ago.
How fast is the recovery actually moving
Realistically, this is a steady climb rather than an overnight switch. Hotel leaders across the UAE are forecasting a slow but steady rebound, with the luxury and corporate segments recovering first, and full recovery expected in late 2026 or early 2027. RAK went into this from a position of strength, with a record 1.35 million visitors in 2025 and double-digit revenue growth, so it is recovering toward a high bar rather than scrambling back from a weak one.
The bigger picture also has not changed. The emirate is still doubling its hotel room supply over the next few years and still building toward the opening of Wynn Al Marjan Island in 2027, the multi-billion-dollar integrated resort that has put RAK on a lot of new travellers’ radar. The connecting bridge is roughly half built, and the staff community is due to open this summer. None of that paused for long, and the long-term target of 3.5 million annual visitors by 2030 is still very much the plan.
A fair word of balance: the peace agreement is recent, and the region will be watching how it holds. But for anyone deciding whether to visit Ras Al Khaimah this summer, the practical answer is straightforward. The advisories are gone, everything is open, the welcome is genuine, and the deals are better than they will be once the rooms fill back up. If you have been waiting for the all-clear, this is it.
This article reflects the situation as of 24 June 2026 and will be updated as the recovery continues. Always confirm the current travel advisory for your own country before booking.
