September 23, 2003
Atlantis To Shift Focus To Dubai
The ink is barely dry on the Phase III deal, it's still wet from the Club Med deal, yet Kerzner International has announced a NEW Atlantis is to be built in the Middle East kingdom of Dubai. A fantastic new development that will dwarf the company's Paradise Island operation is being planned.
An Arabian version of the Royal Towers will rise from a new man-made island to form the centrepiece of a multi-phased development aimed at making Dubai the world's premier tourism "mecca", with a projected 80,000 hotel rooms by the year 2010.
Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has agreed to a $550 million dollar expansion of his country's airport, designed to acommodate 100 airlines flying in from 140 destinations around the globe. In the Bahamas Kerzner International has had repeated problems getting the government to live up to committments to upgrade the third world facilities at Nassau International Airport.
The new Atlantis will include a 1,000 room resort and an extensive water theme park on 1.5 miles of beachfront. It will be built in the middle of The Palm, Jumeirah, a $1.5 billion land reclamation project. Ultimately, the resort will have at least 2,000 rooms.
Dubai's aim is to replace it's traditional oil wealth - expected to run out in 50 years - with a world-beating tourism industry drawing business from the Americas, Europe and the whole of Asia. And the Crown Prince wanted Atlantis, which he saw first-hand on a visit to Nassau, to be a central feature of his plans.
Kerzner and the Dubai government will be equal stakeholders in the new Atlantis, which will include a $650 million first phase followed by additional phases running up to and beyond $2 billion. Work will get underway by the end of next year.
The company has been told it can import all the foreign staff it needs to make the project a success. Unlike in the Bahamas, where bringing in foreign workers ia always a challenge and where workers resent foreign management.
Under the agreement, Kerzner International will receive a 45 year management contract, plus a handsome development fee. Its rate of return from the Dubai investment will dwarf its take from its Bahamian resort.
In an exclusive interview with the Bahamas leading daily newspaper, The Tribune, Kerzner President Butch Kerzner said Dubai, "is investing tens of billions of dollars in their infrastructure. Their growth in tourism is phenomenal. In six years they have taken their arrivals from 4 to 16 million and this year they are track to do 18 million". This contrasts sharply with the Bahamas, where air arrivals have fallen by an alarming rate over the past six years and are now hovering around 1 million stay-over visitors per year.
Posted by admin at September 23, 2003 09:18 AM