Travel Unpacked: UAE to launch two mountain retreats and Notre-Dame reopening with tourist fees

The National rounds up the most interesting tourism news you might have missed

Mountain resorts will open in Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah in 2025. Photo: Lux Hotels & Resorts / Shurooq

The UAE will welcome two new mountain resorts next year, one in Sharjah and one in Ras Al Khaimah.

Meanwhile in France, the Notre Dame Cathedral is getting set to reopen, but with new visitor fees attached, and there are tourist taxes to pay in Venice and Thailand too.

Here's a round-up of recent travel and tourism news – in case you missed it.

Nature-surrounded mountain resorts to open in Sharjah and RAK

Travellers seeking a nature-focused stay in the UAE will soon have two new options to choose from.

Ras Al Khaimah is opening an eco-retreat on Jebel Jais. The Mantis Collection's second resort in the Middle East, following its debut in Bahrain later this year, will open in 2025. Located close to the Bear Grylls Explorer Camp on the UAE's highest mountain, the resort will feature luxury eco-lodges overlooking the Hajar peaks, and will make use of solar power and water conservation methods with minimal waste generation.

With 70 keys, travellers will pay upwards of Dh1,500 per night on an all-inclusive basis. Guests will be encouraged to reconnect with nature during their stay, with hands-on agricultural programmes and outdoor activities such as yoga, biking and cycling on the cards.

In Sharjah, a mountain resort is on track to open at the end of next year. Located in Khor Fakkan, on the east coast of Sharjah, the Lux* Al Jabal Resort is set on a hillside overlooking Soueifa beach. Construction of the project is now 40 per cent complete, according to Sharjah's Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq).

“Travellers today are seeking destinations that provide authentic and sustainable travel experiences. One of the key factors in the success of these projects is their unique geographic locations, which demand careful attention during construction to ensure the surrounding natural environment remains conserved,” said Ahmed Obaid Al Qaseer, chief executive of Shurooq.

Animal lovers can also look forward to a new place to stay in Sharjah, as 25 per cent of construction work at Lux Al Bridi Resort, nestled inside the emirate’s safari park in Al Dhaid, has been completed. The five-star resort will open in the last quarter of 2025.

Notre-Dame reopening in December with entry fees

One of France’s most-visited monuments is only weeks away from reopening for the first time in five years. Notre-Dame Cathedral is due to reopen on December 7, with the first official mass set to take place on December 8 in the Parisian landmark that was gutted by fire damage in April 2019.

But travellers hoping to visit the historic Gothic cathedral may have to cough up to visit after the culture minister proposed entry fees. Entry fees would be set at €5 (Dh20) and would be used to help preserve the country's churches.

While many European cathedrals in other countries charge tourists to visit, churches in France have traditionally been free to enter and the Paris diocese have expressed distaste for the new proposals.

The 850-year-old Notre Dame has undergone extensive restoration works with a new spire, cross and golden rooster on its exterior, plus newly painted chapels, reconstituted statues and new black-and-white flooring.

While the cathedral will welcome worshippers in December, restoration works will continue for another three years with the sacristy due to be completed in 2025, its new stained glass windows installed in 2026 and the enhancement of the cathedral’s facade not due for completion until 2027.

Venice extends tourism tax as Thailand introduces visitor fees

Travellers heading overseas in 2025 will have to pay the price for ongoing overtourism in some of the world's busiest destinations.

In Venice, one of Italy's most-visited cities, travellers will need to pay tourism taxes after authorities in the waterway city deemed a trial tourism fee project a success. From next year, the city will extend its day-tripper tax, increasing the number of days on which tourists have to pay to enter as well as doubling the fee to €10 (Dh40) for last-minute visitors.

Implemented to help battle overtourism, the payment system was launched earlier this year for a time-limited pilot programme. It came after the city narrowly avoided being placed on the UN’s list of endangered heritage sites.

Applicable to day-trippers, the fee must be paid from Friday to Sunday and on public holidays, and from April to July between 8.30am and 4pm. Travellers staying overnight in the historic centre are exempt from the charge, as they already pay a tourist tax.

In Thailand, which consistently ranks among the world's most popular tourist destinations, visitors will face similar tourist fees after the South Asian destination may face announced plans to charge tourism fees from international visitors arriving by air.

Named a travelling tax, it will be introduced in mid-2025 and will cost 300 baht (Dh32) for air passengers. Land and sea travellers could also be subject to new tourism fees, but at a lower rate of 150 baht, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism.