Ras al Khaimah's selection as the venue for the America's Cup has given the emirate a splendid chance to get its message as a tourist brand out to the world. Olivier Auroy writes
The America's Cup will take place in Ras al Khaimah next February. The emirate's unexpected selection as the home for the world-renowned race is a formidable move by RAK Tourism.
As branding consultants, we often advise our clients to choose the right event to boost their notoriety and visibility. When it comes to destination branding (for cities or countries), it always starts with positioning.
What does the city or country stand for? Beyond the obvious (low taxes, good lifestyle), what will make tourists visit or executives invest in a place?
The battle is global and with tourism, the fight is fierce. Year-long sun or modern infrastructure is not enough, especially in this part of the world. You need something extra to attract audiences.
This is where branding comes in. Recently, Morocco has touted itself as "a country that elevates your soul" while Greece invites guests to have "the true experience". Each adopted a spiritual approach. The idea is to transcend their unique and popular products on offer, those made of history and culture.
Morocco faces Tunisia and Spain: culture is not different enough. Greece competes with Cyprus and Turkey: beautiful ruins can be found all around the Mediterranean Sea.
Morocco and Greece are known the world over. They don't need to explain who they are; they just need to add a bit of magic to their core offer. And that's what their recent advertising campaigns have done.
So in the case of places such as Ras al Khaimah, what happens when you have awareness but people don't know what you are famous for?
Then, your approach will be slightly different. You need to educate the audience and explain what your product is about.
This was the case for South Africa, which settled on "It is possible"; or Italy's Sardinia, which sells visitors on the idea that it is "Almost a continent".
Cape Town or Durban in South Africa are known entities. People can visualise the yachts moored alongside the harbours of the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia. But the countries need to tell their own stories.
The advertising campaigns for South Africa and Sardinia show landscapes similar to those in France, Brazil or Australia, and offer the message: "It is all in one. You have no idea of the diversity and richness of our country. Come and discover."
Ras al Khaimah has a different challenge. It also has ambitions in the tourism sector, although it has largely been out-shouted by its two more vocal brothers, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. So, how can Ras al Khaimah get out its message, that it also has great potential as a leisure and tourism destination?
The emirate's first hurdle is that it lack awareness. People simply do not know who or where it is. It should refine its branding strategy to create a visual identity.
We would then ask our clients to think of an event, an exhibition or show that could express the values and message of the branded place. The America's Cup gives them a good call to action.
If Ras al Khaimah is about "achieving performances in the best possible environment", there could not be a better sports event than the America's Cup. Sailing naturally embraces values such as team spirit, speed and excellence.
The America's Cup elevates these values to a higher level. The fact that the Alinghi racing yacht, the F1 of the sea, has to fly over the Alps by helicopter and cross continents to reach Ras al Khaimah adds to the dramatic intensity.
The buzz around the emirate's selection is already quite loud, much louder than the hoopla that engulfed Valencia, the home of the last cup, at the same time.
Think of what the Formula One Grand Prix did for Bahrain. It basically introduced Bahrain to the world.
In 2006, we helped Doha create its visual identity, which gave Qatar a prominent position in both the media world, through Al Jazeera, and sports with its sponsorship of the Asian Games.
All of these events have one thing in common: they gave these city-states global awareness, put them on the world map and raised their profile.
The America's Cup will not only give Ras al Khaimah an instant and powerful boost of notoriety, but it will also put its message in front of millions of potential customers, investors and visitors.
If competitor BMW-Oracle validates Alinghi's choice of venue, Ras al Khaimah could join Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman as members of a premier tourism league in the region that not only includes the Gulf, but the entire Middle East and India.
Olivier Auroy is managing director with gsFitch in Dubai.
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
PROFILE BOX:
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence
Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($800,000)
Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013