The Al Marjan Island is an ambitious mega-project, which is located at the coast of the northern Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. In a short time, Al Marjan, Ras Al Khaimah turned into one of the largest tourist centers of the UAE, making a worthy competition to its elder brothers from Dubai (Palma Jumeirah and Palma Jebel Ali). Today, the human-made infrastructure masterpiece offers its unique opportunities for highly profitable and safe capital investment.
Tourist Boom
Al Marjan Island is an archipelago of four artificial islands, made in the form of coral. The main goal of this project is Al Marjan island resort & spa, besides they plan to develop the residential real estate sector here. The total area of the islands is 2.7 million square meters, the length of the onshore shoreline is 4.5 km.
Human-made islands, surrounded by mountains, mangrove forests, unique desert, and crystal warm sea, have become a luxury holiday destination throughout the year: only in 2018, the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah is expected to host nearly 1 million tourists, a steady increase in tourism flow is about 8% per year. Foreign tourists are attracted by magnificent natural landscapes, developed infrastructure and the opportunity to relax on the high-end resorts of the world known hotels: Rixos Bab Al Bahr, Marjan Island Resort & Spa and Double Tree by Hilton Resort & Spa.
The high occupancy of hotel rooms throughout the year is one of the guarantors of the investment attractiveness of Ras Al Khaimah Al Marjan Island. The plan for the tourism development of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah envisages an increase in revenues from tourism to $1.1 billion by the end of 2018 and the creation of more than 15,000 jobs. With the support of the government of the Emirate, the development of the tourist cluster of Ras Al Khaimah will be ensured, and Ras Al Khaimah Al Marjan Island will be the main growth point.
Image credit: (Google maps)
Figure 1 – Al Marjan island map (Al Marjan island location in the UAE)
Investment in Al Marjan Island
The government company Al Marjan (developer of the project) offers foreign investors land plots ranging from 2,200 to 380,000 square meters. (actually a personal island!), at the first line of the sea, as well as on the second and third coastlines, but with the guarantee of access to the beach. Companies and private investors who purchase such plots receive full ownership of part of Al Marjan island with the possibility of building hotels, apart-hotels, apartment buildings, villas, and commercial premises."
Even now, Al Marjan in Ras Al Khaimah attracts hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign investment, and the growth in sales of land plots has reached an incredible pace. Already now, Marjan island resort & spa complexes are being developed by such international developers as Avani Hotels, Radisson Blu Hotels, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Emaar Properties, and others. They also have a strategic partnership with the developers of Schon Properties and Crowngate International, which intend to build new on-island entertainment complexes.
In the coastal zone of Ras Al Khaimah there is a huge demand for hotels, so according to statistics their average annual occupancy is about 85% (this is a very high rate), and this contributes to the growth of Al Marjan hotels in Ras Al Khaimah. Given the relatively low cost of land (from $1,030 per square meter) and the low cost of construction, a foreign investor can be confident in high potential return on investment, at around 15% per annum for hotel assets and 40-60% for residential projects.
Free zone of the island of Al Marjan
One of the important factors promoting the success of the Al Marjan Island project is that there is a free economic zone here. The authorities of the UAE has already appreciated the importance and prospects of creating free zones and their impact on the influx of foreign investment. This the Free Economic Zone on the island of Al Marjan means the following for foreign investors (as in any other free zone in the UAE):
- no personal and income taxes,
- possibility of 100% foreign ownership,
- no currency control,
- complete freedom in the repatriation of capital and profits,
- access to infrastructure, communications, and labor.
In addition to full ownership of land, investors on the island of Al Marjan are eligible for investment or construction licenses, which makes it possible to obtain resident visas and open bank accounts. After six months and the formation of credit history, a foreign investor can get bank financing, which is especially important for construction companies.
If a foreign investor has no construction experience, he/she can use the services of contractors and eminent hotel operators who are interested in developing business in the attractive tourist area of the island of Al Marjan. There are communications on each site, and a developer can start construction right after signing a purchase contract, paying a deposit of 10% and a registration fee (the fee is twice lower than that in Dubai), obtaining the necessary approvals. In general, from the moment of signing the reservation form before the construction starts, no more than six months will pass (according to the assurances of the project managers of the island of Al Marjan).
Al Marjan Island is a real magnet for investments in tourism, hotel business and retail with excellent prospects for development. Currently, many large investors have already chosen it for investment and implementation of projects. In the coming years, the investment portfolio of the project will only increase, gathering new and new projects amid high demand and rising profitability.
Among the developers of the island of Al Marjan, there are already such prominent players of this market as:
- Emaar Properties will build a huge tourist cluster on the island of Al Marjan with 1,500 hotel rooms, 2,000 serviced apartments and a shopping center. The project cost is estimated at $1.8 billion.
- Crowngate International, the British developer, plans to open an upscale resort on the island of Al Marjan with a cost of $59.9 million.
- Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts hotel group will open a five-star resort on the island of Al Marjan by 2020, which will offer accommodation for guests 450 rooms, 120 residential apartments, 70 branded apartments, and villas.
- Chinese investment company, Novel became the owner of a 720,000 sq. feet on the island of Al Marjan, where it will build tourist and shopping facilities.
Conclusion:
Al Marjan Island project is an ambitious project of the UAE government, and this is a successful project! You can find complete information about the project on their official website http://almarjanisland.com/. You can also contact our consultants who will be glad to provide you with all the necessary information and help you buy a property or a plot of land on one of the amazing island islands in the UAE, Al Marjan Island.
