Wind Virtual World

* Giant complex to add 29,200 rooms

A state-owned Dubai company plans to build a Dh100 billion tourist and leisure resort in the city that will feature a cluster of 31 hotels, including the world's biggest, and some 100 theatres presenting live cultural shows. Tatweer, a unit of Dubai Holding, said the project will boast the largest concentration of leading hotels in the world and help Dubai cope with the 15 million tourists it
hopes to attract by 2010.

Called Bawadi, the project will nearly double the current number of hotel rooms through several themed hotels and also develop entertainment centres, shopping malls, theatres, restaurants and convention centres. Unveiled yesterday by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the project will be spread over 139 million square feet in Dubailand.

"Tourism as an industry plays a major part in the economic development of this country and this project was instructed to be developed by Shaikh Mohammad about a year ago," Tatweer's chief executive officer Saeed Al Muntafiq said after the unveiling.
The giant project, set up after extensive research on the dynamics of the tourism industry, will also boost tourismdependent
industries such as meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions as well as the corporate travel business.

Of the total investment needed, Tatweer will spend Dh30 billion to develop hotels and another Dh10 billion on infrastructure that will be raised through its own private equity and debt. The remaining Dh60 billion is expected to come from investors. The centrepiece of Bawadi will be the world's largest hotel, Asia-Asia, which alone will comprise 6,500 rooms, combining 5,100 four-star and an additional 1,400 fivestar rooms.

Asia-Asia will be a part of the first phase of development, which includes total spending of Dh12 billion by Tatweer in hotel and infrastructure, and will be completed by 2010. The capacity of Bawadi will be 29,200 rooms, out of which 12,450 will be developed by Tatweer's 12 themed hotels, with another 16,750 rooms developed by independent investors in another 19 hotels.

Together, the hotels are expected to host 3.3 million guests by 2016, which will be more than 21 per cent of the total number of tourists that Dubai expects to receive by that time.

Taken from Gulf News