The Week in RAK: 5 to 11 October 2026
Developer's image: Wynn Resorts
The news from Ras Al Khaimah, 1 hour from Dubai, that matters if you are thinking of buying or living here.
The lead story
Wynn's resort gets a 98-berth superyacht marina
Wynn Al Marjan Island → revealed Wynn Marina, a 98-berth marina inside a protected circular basin, built for yachts up to 85 metres long. Wynn says no other hotel-attached marina in the UAE takes as many yachts, or yachts as large.
IGY Marinas will run it, and a building called the Capitainerie will handle arrivals, check-in and crew services. The marina opens with the resort in 2027.
Number of the week
Hotel rooms and units due to open in RAK in 2027, about 1,530 of them at Wynn Al Marjan Island. RAK has about 8,700 hotel rooms today and expects about 16,000 by 2030. Figures from RAK Tourism Development Authority.
Economy and business
UAE output fell in the second quarter, while building kept growing
The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre's first estimate puts UAE output in April to June 2.1% lower than a year earlier, after falls in tourism, transport and trade. Over the first half of 2026, output rose 0.4%, construction 5.1% and real estate 2.3%.
The figures are for the whole UAE, not RAK alone.
An analyst says Wynn could beat its own gaming targets
Wolfe Research analyst Peter Supino said in a note, reported on 9 October, that Wynn Al Marjan Island could beat the gaming revenue targets Wynn set in December 2025, based on comparisons with Singapore. Wynn's own forecast is USD 1bn to USD 1.66bn a year, with USD 1.33bn as its base case.
HH Sheikh Mohammed: trust is the UAE's currency of the future
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the UAE's Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, published a letter on 11 October saying the country's real bet on the future is trust. "The currency we are betting on is neither water, energy, artificial intelligence nor data, important as they all are," he wrote, in Khaleej Times's translation.
A powersports dealer opens its biggest UAE showroom in RAK
Sharmax Motors, which sells motorbikes and powersports vehicles, has its largest UAE showroom and service centre running on Al Sanaa Road in Al Dhait. The official opening is on 17 October.
Property and building
An Al Marjan Island tower reaches its full height
Almal Real Estate Development finished the concrete structure of The Unexpected Al Marjan Island Hotel & Residences, 422 units to be run by Palladium Hotel Group. Almal puts overall progress at more than half, against 42% recorded by RAK's real estate regulator in July. Facade, glazing and fit-out work have started.
Living and visiting
Daily flights to Kerala return
Air Arabia will restart daily nonstop flights between Ras Al Khaimah and Kozhikode in Kerala, India, from 16 October.
RAK opens entries for its community awards
The Emirates Association for Social Development in RAK opened applications for the sixth Social Excellence Award, with 16 categories that include neighbourhood councils, expatriate clubs, retirees and digital content.
Our view
Giles Dean
It was a slow news week, but the lead story matters if you are thinking of buying or living here.
Wynn is not building a marina for day trippers. It is building for HNWs, and what they spend could reshape RAK's economy.
Wynn's own forecast is that its casino will take USD 1bn to USD 1.66bn a year. This week Wolfe Research, an independent analyst, said even that may prove cautious, after comparing the resort with Singapore's.
Set against RAK's whole economy of about USD 13bn a year, the scale is clear: as a rough measure, one resort's gaming revenue would be worth around a tenth of the emirate's output.
That money will not stay on the casino floor. HNWs who arrive by superyacht spend on restaurants, staff, suppliers and services across the emirate, and RAK's tourism authority already expects hotel rooms to almost double by 2030.
For the surrounding areas, it means homes will sit next to a resort designed to bring HNWs to the island, and to keep bringing them back.
Smaller stories point the same way. Sharmax chose RAK for its largest UAE showroom, which tells you businesses expect more people with money to spend to be living here or moving here. The Unexpected reaching full height shows Al Marjan Island towers are being built, not only announced. And daily flights to Kozhikode from 16 October make RAK easier to reach from India.
Our view, not advice. Past rises may not repeat.
If you are weighing a specific RAK development and want to know how it fits this picture, ask us.
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Sources
Wynn's resort gets a 98-berth superyacht marina: Wynn Al Marjan Island, 5 October 2026 →
Number of the week: RAK Tourism Development Authority, in Al Bayan, 5 October 2026 →
UAE output fell in the second quarter, while building kept growing: Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, via WAM, 9 October 2026 →
An analyst says Wynn could beat its own gaming targets: Wolfe Research, reported by Asia Gaming Brief, 9 October 2026 →
HH Sheikh Mohammed: trust is the UAE's currency of the future: HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, in Khaleej Times, 11 October 2026 →
A powersports dealer opens its biggest UAE showroom in RAK: Sharmax Motors, 7 October 2026 →
An Al Marjan Island tower reaches its full height: Almal Real Estate Development, 6 October 2026 →
Daily flights to Kerala return: Air Arabia, 6 October 2026 →
RAK opens entries for its community awards: Emirates Association for Social Development, 7 October 2026 →
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