Khalid Midfa, chairman of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, aims to help attract 10 million annual visitors to the emirate by 2021.

At WTM London Midfa did not give a figure, but said international hotel guest nights had increased 19% in the first nine months of the year.

Midfa is “actively engaging with partners” to develop investment opportunities, from new hotels to the continued growth in the cruise line business.

“Cruise is a big sector for us,” he said. “We have a deep port and a plan and agreement with the Port Authority for a new terminal to make it more passenger-friendly.

“That will be built in the next few years.”

Sharjah is the only Emirate that all the others border and the only one to have coastline on both sides of the UAE, reaching the Gulf of Oman on the East Coast and the Arabian Gulf on the West.

Midfa added that Sharjah is not “going down the theme park route” so as to differentiate itself from its neighbouring emirates, although it is “well set-up for families”. The family market has been a recent emphasis for the dry emirate.

Meanwhile, the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) has been participating at WTM London under the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority’s pavilion.

It is putting a spotlight on the sustainable site, the Mleiha Archaeological and Ecotourism Project, particularly targeting the European market.