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Lebanese partners plan first plush hotel in Iraqi
Kurdistan
4.9.2007
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Five-star facility expected to cost about $55
million
September 4, 2007
BEIRUT, -- A Lebanese group unveiled plans
Monday to build the first five-star hotel in
Kurdistan autonomous region (northern Iraq). Malia
Group and Rotana Hotels announced the signing of a
partnership agreement for the construction of a $55
million hotel in the city of Erbil in Iraqi
Kurdistan at a news conference in the Rotana Hotel
in Hamra.
The Erbil hotel should open in October 2009 and will
be owned by Malia subsidiary Hotel Line and managed
by Rotana, said Malia Group president Jacques Sarraf
and Rotana Hotels president and CEO Selim al-Zyr.
The 205-room hotel will feature five-star amenities
such as a pool, ballroom, restaurants, conference
halls and other recreational facilities. It will be
built on 20,000 square meters and will cater to both
businesspeople and regional and international
tourists. |
A $55 million hotel in the city of Erbil in Iraqi
Kurdistan |
The workforce will consist of both Lebanese and
Kurds. Trained experts in different fields of the
hospitality sector will transfer to Erbil to begin
construction and oversee operations, while at the
same time Kurds will be trained and hired, each in
his or her respective field. Therefore, the project
will help create jobs for Kurds and expand the job
prospects for a few Lebanese citizens looking to
extend their efforts in the Middle East.
The primary investor in the project is Malia
Holding. "Potential investors, however ... are still
welcome," said Sarraf.
The aim of the alliance is to add the tourism sector
to Malia's interests in the Middle East by
capitalizing on the brand equity that Rotana has
created over the years in the region.
Both companies said their objective was to expand
their operations and influence inside the Middle
East. The presidents of both companies explained
their vision of a successful venture in Iraq,
specifically Irbil, which has been considered
recently by many business men to be the gateway to
Iraq.
"There is great synergy from the Malia-Rotana team"
Sarraf told journalists.
The alliance hopes to combine Malia's experience in
Iraq since 1997 and in Erbil since 2003, with the
experience Rotana has in the hospitality industry to
create a venture that, according to both presidents,
will be the first of many in Iraq.
Growth forecasts of the Kurdistan region, coupled
with stability and government support for investors
through tax relief and other incentives, triggered
interest in the area.
Iraqi Kurdish officials are keen to have tourism
play a more important part in the region's economy.
The opening of a new international airport in Irbil,
and increasingly well developed and regulated
banking and financing sectors are expected to
facilitate the hotel venture's future operations.
Mostly free from the violence that affects many
parts of Iraq, Kurdistan has been relatively
peaceful in the wake of the US-led liberation in
2003.
Malia Group, first founded in 1935, is a leading
Lebanese organization, consolidating subsidiary
companies dealing in the production of
pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, tobacco, food and other
consumer products, marketing and distribution, and
recently in tourism.
Rotana Hotels, founded in 1992, is a Middle
East-born hospitality firm operating in many Arab
countries, including Lebanon, the United Arab
Emirates, Syria, Jordan, and Sudan, and currently
has 29 more hotels under construction, which will
make it the largest hotel operator in the region.
Dailystar com.lb
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