Marine club looking to attract more Fujairah residents

There is no doubt Fujairah residents enjoy some of the most scenic natural environment in the UAE. The Hajjar mountains and the Gulf of Oman make for a wonderful combination and offer plenty of year-round options for recreational activities.

 

Many Fujairah residents, however, are still unfamiliar with one of the best recreational spots in the Emirate; the Fujairah International Marine Club offers a broad range of activities yet most people are unaware of most, if not all, of them.

 

Fujairah Observer caught-up with Ahmed Ibrahim, the club’s Managing Director, to find out what the club has to offer and why its not as busy as it should be.

 

Fujairah Observer: Can you give us a brief introduction of the club and what it offers?

 

Ahmed Ibrahim: Fujairah International Marine Club is one of the attraction points to tourists as we offer marine-based recreational activities and services, such as yacht hire and diving and fishing boat trips and we also have restaurants and a bar.

 

We also hold national and international water-sports tournaments, such as swimming, jet-ski and boat racing championships, working very closely with national and international water-sports governing bodies.

 

I don’t see ourselves as competing with hotels, but rather complementing each other. We offer activities their gusts enjoy and we often try to involve some of the local hotels in the international tournaments, for example, by starting or ending the race in their area.

 

F.O. Tourists clearly enjoy your facilities and services, but how about Fujairah residents? Do you think more of them can do so as well?

 

A.I. We do have lots of residents as well but I have to admit there could be much more; not enough people know about us and what we offer. We have to concede that we didn’t communicate well enough with residents in the past, there was a clear fault there but we started to remedy this now. We’ve hired a marketing and PR executive and have concentrated on communicating better with the general public through a facebook page and other marketing tools.

 

We came up with a 1 dirham-a-day membership scheme to entice people in. The idea behind it is not to make money but to offer the general public an incentive because the scheme will offer them discounts on the services and facilities such as the restaurants and bar and other water-sports activities.

 

F.O. What do you offer families?

 

A.I. There are plenty of activities for families; they can take a nice relaxing trip on the dhow, take a fishing or diving trip on one of our boats or enjoy a fine launch or dinner at one of our restaurants. We’re also planning to have supervised playing facilities for kids so parents can enjoy some of other facilities with some peace of mind. We also currently have family sections at our restaurants. I think people will find we have a nice atmosphere and our prices are moderate.

 

F.O. What’s new around the club? And what plans do you have for the club in the future?

 

A.I. We’re always looking to develop the club and introduce new things; anyone who goes away for six month will always come back to find something new. We have spent AED4 million over 86 new mooring spaces for small and large size yachts and other improvements to the harbor and club in general.

 

Furthermore, we just opened a new restaurant on the jetty overlooking Fujairah beach on one side, and the marine harbor on the other, and soon we’ll have a private beach with some recreational areas, such as for billiards, under a sun cover of roof made out of palm branches. These beach area will be exclusive to members but the restaurants and other facilities are open to all.

 

A new development, we’re really looking forward to, is the construction of a new five-storey building that will house our administration offices and will also have commercial offices and two gyms, one for men and another exclusively for women. At the moment the project is still at the planning stage but we’re hoping construction work can begin within a year.

 

F.O. What about your commitment to water-sports? Tell us about this.

 

A.I. As you know we hold regular national and international water-sport tournaments and we’ll continue to do so even though it does carry a heavy cost factor. We do get good financial sponsorship for the international tournaments but no so on the national events, but we’re working to increase the exposure for these tournaments to attract more sponsorship.

We’re committed to the development of youth talents in water-sports, in the emirate. We currently house the offices of the UAE Sailing & Rowing Federation who chose to base their headquarters in Fujairah given its rich pool of talents and strong history in traditional dhow rowing. 

 

We are hoping to help them succeed in their efforts in reaching the London 2012 Olympics, which needless to say will be a great achievement and a major source of pride for the UAE, and Fujairah, in particular.

 

F.O. Finally, what would you like to say to people who are yet to explore the club?

 

A.I. I would like to invite them to come and enjoy what we have here; I think they’ll be presently surprised at what we offer. We’re always happy to get feedback as well; I prefer direct contact on this matter rather than the usual suggestion box. My office is open to everyone and I’m my mobile phone is always on for communication.

 

Fuad Mohammed Ali