UAE-based property development company Nakheel held a meeting for all the hoteliers who have purchased plots and are developing hotels on The Palm, Jumeirah. The meeting, which took place at The Royal Mirage Dubai, sought to bring the hoteliers together in one forum, to discuss the progress and next stages of the development.
Discussions covered a cross-section of topics from technical aspects to schedules and logistics. Specialist consultants covered specific details relating to the transportation methods and patterns, utilities plans and processes and construction procedures.
In total, The Palm Jumeirah will house 40 boutique hotels on the crescent and nine hotels on the Trunk. The hotels will all have a specialized theme. The Palm, Jumeirah is expected to open in late 2005, early 2006.
Saeed Ahmed Saeed, managing director of projects for The Palm, who was leading the meeting, said, “The reclamation phase of The Palm, Jumeirah will shortly be nearing completion and we will be swiftly be moving onto building the infrastructure and constructing the homes and hotels”.
“In order for us to move onto the next stages a great deal of planning and consultation has and will continue to take place. Meetings like today provide an excellent medium to discuss a wide range of elements that the hoteliers need to know and want to find out about”, Saeed continued.
Wahid Attalla, director of operations for The Palm, addressed the audience about the legal licensing, financing, contractual, branding and marketing elements for the hotels. Whilst Imad Haffar, bio-resource adviser for The Palm, spoke about the environmental measures being implemented on the project.
The Palm involves the creation of the world’s largest two man-made islands known as The Palm, Jumeirah and The Palm, Jebel Ali. Located just off the coast of the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the two palm tree shaped islands are expected to contribute to the city’s position as a premier global tourist destination.
The project will increase Dubai’s shoreline by a total of 120 kilometer and create a large number of residential, leisure and entertainment opportunities. The creation of The Palm is an extraordinary project of grand proportions. Comprised of approximately 100 million cubic meters of rock and sand, the islands together will eventually support over 60 luxury hotels, 4000 exclusive residential beachside villas, over 5,000 shoreline apartments, marinas, water theme parks, restaurants, shopping malls, sports facilities, health spas, dive sites and cinemas.
Construction commenced in June 2001 after many years of research and planning. Each island will take approximately two years to be completely raised from the sea. A further two to three years will be required to complete the infrastructure and the buildings. The end-result will be the creation of two virtually self-contained communities within the islands. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
