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Abu Dhabi’s western region could become a prominent player in the global watersport and marine-based leisure tourism sector, according to an Arab entrepreneur aiming to exploit its potential.
Tameem Al Hammadi, CEO of Western Marine Sports Club (WMSC) is Al Gharbia’s first specialist watersports service provider.
Born and bred in Mirfa, a picturesque fishing town around an hour’s drive from the UAE capital, Mr Al Hammadi is well aware of the rich environmental resources underlining Al Gharbia’s case – the area makes up over two thirds of the Abu Dhabi emirate and boasts hundreds of kilometres of pristine coastline, stunning, white sand beaches and scores of islands.
“In Mirfa, we are people of the sea,” he said. “My father was a sailor and trader – for my grandfather’s generation it was the pearl trade, so my passion for the sea is natural, it is our lifeblood, our heritage.”
Mr Al Hammadi has turned his passion, with financial support from the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, into a vehicle driving the evolution of the western region’s watersports infrastructure.
WMSC’s first contract, to implement and manage an extensive programme of watersport and leisure activities at the recently-renovated, four-star Mirfa Hotel, serves both tourists and the local community.
Its success has opened the door to expanding the core business – a key progress marker in his five-year plan to establish WMSC offices across all seven UAE emirates.
“The WMSC business model is based on three core principles: sports, environment and tourism and the dream is to have strong foundations and WMSC branches across every city, in every emirate. Then we can think of how we take the club worldwide,” he added.
In combining a revenue-driven corporate approach with an agenda to introduce grassroots initiatives that will encourage heightened year-round Gulf-wide participation in watersports, Mr Al Hammadi is spearheading local involvement in what he promised will be WMSC’s ‘authentic Al Gharbia experiences’.
“It is about being ambassadors because local knowledge, as I see it, determines the entire visitor experience. If you want to know where the best wrecks, dhows and reefs are, you should ask me or someone from Mirfa because it was probably one of us that dived and discovered them over the years.
“We know the local traditions, names and history, because it is ours,” he explained.
Mr Al Hammadi is also focusing on upgrading Al Gharbia’s existing watersport facilities to cater for the expected increase in visitors. At Mirfa Hotel, work on a new jetty, one capable of accommodating a larger and more diverse range of vessels, is scheduled to begin this month. The new dock will be followed with a purpose-built dive centre.
“I am always thinking about where the value is; is it for the sport, the hotel, the visitor, or the region? I like to think that we are at our best when we incorporate all four,” he said.
Currently the annual Al Gharbia Watersports Festival, a 10-day event held in the second quarter of every year, pulls in people from across the world to compete in everything from dragon boating and kite surfing to dhow racing and swimming.
