ABU DHABI, 4 July 2006 — Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH), a leading hospitality group with interests spanning tourism, transportation and catering, is to invest around AED700 million ($190 million) in a five-star destination resort on Saadiyat “natural” Island lying 500 meters offshore from the UAE capital city.
The resort will be built on the island’s secluded Saadiyat beach district with ADNH purchasing an 807,000 square feet plot for the project from Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), the tourism asset development arm of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).
“This will be a flagship addition to the growing ADNH portfolio,” said Khalifa Nasser Huwaileel Al-Mansoori, chairman, ADNH, “and we’re pleased to be one of the first partners in this ambitious Saadiyat Island development.”
The resort will boast a 400,000 square feet hotel with around 400 rooms and will be managed by an international hotel operator.
“We anticipate making further announcements, including details of the design, selected architects and operator, in the not too distant future,” said Al Mansoori.
“We expect construction to begin in the first quarter of next year with the resort opening in the second quarter of 2009.”
Saadiyat Island, which translates from Arabic as “Island of Happiness,” is to be developed in three phases from 2006-2018. Half the size of the tropical island of Bermuda, Saadiyat is the Middle East’s largest single natural island development. Meanwhile, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), the organization charged with developing the tourism assets of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), is currently progressing 15 projects in partnership with private investors, which will see up to 4,000 hotel rooms added to the UAE capital’s hospitality portfolio within the next three years.
Addressing the Australian Business Group (ABIG) recently in Abu Dhabi, TDIC’s chief executive, Lee Tabler, said: “We’ve around 15 projects already under discussion and construction with investors and announcements will be made over the next few months. “In line with the Abu Dhabi Government’s strategy, our approach is driven by an overwhelming desire for sustainable developments of environmental stewardship.”
Tabler said TDIC had met with considerable success since its launch earlier this year with its flagship transformation of Saadiyat Island — the natural island lying 500 meters offshore Abu Dhabi city.
“Business is booming in Abu Dhabi. The emirate is now recording some of the world’s highest occupancy levels, according to a recent report by Deloittes — which, of course, means there’s opportunity ahead.
“Tourism,” said Tabler, “is being prioritized by the Abu Dhabi government as part of its economic diversification strategy with ADTA targeting another 17,000 hotel rooms by 2015 to cope with its projection of three million tourists a year — an increase on the current one million visitors.
