Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) has partnered with the National Crisis & Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) and Ras Al Khaimah Preventive Medicine Department (PMD) to provide free COVID-19 PCR testing for staff in the hospitality sector in the emirates
This partnership complements existing efforts by the authority to implement the highest level of safety and precautionary measures as restrictions on domestic and international tourism are eased, and inbound visits to Ras Al Khaimah continue to increase.
RAKTDA has supervised regular COVID-19 screenings for the hospitality staff at the hotels of the emirate, and through this partnership with NCEMA and the PMD, further free testing will be provided to ensure the safety of both guests and staff.
Raki Phillips, CEO of RAKTDA, commented, “Our industry has been resilient in the face of challenging times, and we have unveiled a number of strategies, ranging from tourism support initiatives to earning recognition as the world's first safe city and the first safe emirates to be certified by Bureau Veritas and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
“These measures ensure our partners in the sector can continue to operate as we enter the ‘new normal’. Ongoing testing of hospitality staff is an important step in our efforts to reaffirm to our visitors that the emirate has taken extensive measures to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of guests and residents.”
Mahra Mohammad Bin Sray, logistics support and field examination officer at RAKTDA, said, “Conducting regular COVID-19 tests is a mandatory procedure to flatten the curve and control the number of cases nation-wide. With visitors returning to Ras Al Khaimah, we have to ensure that all people working in the hospitality sector are regularly tested and adhered to the necessary precautions.”
As part of RAKTDA’s ‘Stay Safe’ Hotel Certification, hospitality staff testing is conducted to align with global best practices and enhance the security measures in place across the 45 hotels in the emirate.
Strict adherence is maintained with federal directives, guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation as well as the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the recommendations of internally recognised third-party certification providers.
This has resulted in the emirate being certified as safe by Bureau Veritas, as well as its achievement of the Safe Travels Stamp from the World Travel &Tourism Council (WTTC).
