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Emirates to invest Dh2.7b in hotels and resorts
http://archive.gulfnews.com/business.../10112490.html
03/21/2007 12:54 AM | By Saifur Rahman, Business News Editor
Dubai: Emirates, the second biggest and most profitable Arab carrier, is investing Dh2.7 billion in developing its hotel portfolio which will be managed by its newly-established Emirates Hotels and Resorts division.
Emirates carries the highest number of passengers to and from Dubai and also takes care of their accommodation them while on a stopover here.
"We are the largest pro-viders of businesses to Dubai's hotel industry and will continue to be. However, the new division is our responsible contribution to the emirate of Dubai," Hans E. Haensel, Emirates' senior vice-president for Destination and Leisure Management Division, told Gulf News.
"It is by no means taking away the businesses from the hotels."
Dubai's hotel industry is currently suffering from shortages of rooms.
"We are trying to contribute to that. The industry currently needs 35,000 additional rooms to meet the future demands. We are putting only 1,850 rooms to support the industry," Haensel assured the hoteliers of Dubai.
The airline's hotel projects include a Dh1.8 billion Emirates Park Towers - a twin tower complex that will house 900 guest rooms and 300 serviced apartments and rise to 77 floors - off Shaikh Zayed Road. Middle East Foundation is currently completing the piling works. In September this year, the Dh518 million Emirates Marina Hotel and Residence, a complex hosting 261 rooms and apartments, will open.
This will be followed by the Emirates Green Lakes, a 350-apartment complex, that Emirates Hotels & Resorts will operate under a management contract.
The airline already operates a 42-suite Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa, built in the 1990s at a cost of Dh125 million. It is also developing a similar one at a cost of Dh253 million at Wolgan Valley in Australia's Blue Mountains in New South Wales. Construction of the 40-suit Emirates Wolgan Valley is to start in June and is expected to be completed by September 2008.
The company, however, is not planning to develop this into a global hotel brand like Radisson SAS, spearheaded by the Scandinavian carrier, or other five-star brands such as Hilton, Sheraton and the Intercontinental.
"But we would compete with them in quality and service," Tony Williams, vice-president for Resorts and Projects at Emirates Hotels and Resorts, said.
"Across the range of products, we will offer super luxury desert conservation like Al Maha - a very niche product as well as the luxury five-star services in the large business hotels."
The airline has also entered into the spa business with the launch of Timeless Spa.