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Saadiyat Island to partially open for visitors by year-end
posted on 11/10/2009
 The first set of tourism attractions on the Dh100 billion Saadiyat Island will be open to the public by the end of this year, as Abu Dhabi Government-owned master developer Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) races against time to deliver infrastructure and projects.
"We are going to open Manarat Al Saadiyat, the 15,400 square metre visitor centre before the end of this year which will host a gallery and special events," Kier Riemersma, TDIC's director of Real Estate Services, told Gulf News.
"Besides, the first phase of the Gary Player Golf Course is also in final stage of completion. A power distribution substation is also ready for power supply. Saadiyat Island is going to be accessible through two major road bridges that directly pass through the 27 square kilometre island as part of its infrastructure is completed to give site access to developers."
The 10-lane Saadiyat Bridge and Expressway will officially open to the public this month. In the past six months, groundbreaking of the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum took place, followed by a tender which was awarded to German construction company Bauer International FZE which began enabling works on the museum.
Construction work on the St. Regis Hotel and Residences started in the second quarter of 2009 by the engineering and construction joint venture company Al Habtoor — Murray & Roberts.
The main piling works have commenced on the five-star Park Hyatt Resort, which is being developed by Abu Dhabi National Hotels and comprises 316 rooms and suites and 44 chalets.
TDIC also announced that contractors have been invited to pre-qualify for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museum contract and the result of which will be announced in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Saadiyat (which in Arabic means Happy) is a mega mixed-used development aimed at strengthening Abu Dhabi's position as a family tourism destination.
The island will be completed in phases up until 2018. Over 160,000 people are expected to live on the island upon completion.
The island is made up of seven districts: Saadiyat Cultural District, Saadiyat Marina, Saadiyat Beach, Saadiyat Promenade, Saadiyat Lagoons, Saadiyat Reserve and Saadiyat Retreat. The move is in line to diversify the hydrocarbon-rich emirate's economy and follows the launch of Etihad Airline, which is to help Abu Dhabi strengthen its air connectivity with the rest of the world.
Saadiyat Island will host premium brands in hospitality, education and leisure, combined with the world's largest concentration of cultural institutions, all within easy reach.
There are plans for luxury hotels, over three million square metres of office space, marinas with berths for 1,000 boats, two championship golf courses, civic and leisure facilities, sea-view apartments and elite villas.
It will host five major museums, including the Guggenheim, Louvre, Sheikh Zayed Museum and Maritime Museum. "Of these, Louvre has been tendered out while Guggeinheim project is also in the tendering phase, Riemersma said.
"Construction of Louvre is set to start."
Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), the emirate's tourism regulatory body expects to double its hotel capacity in three years, which will help it to attract more visitors. Etihad, which has been designated as the UAE's flagship carrier is also growing at a faster pace in order to increase tourist traffic to Abu Dhabi.
In order to increase the hotel capacity, TDIC is also developing hotels itself along with the private developers. "We are going to deliver 7,000 hotel rooms in three years and our hotel development portfolio is going hand in hand with all other projects, he said.
One of these projects include a 154-suite desert retreat, Qasr Al Sarab which will also have 42 luxury villas and 10 royal villas.
"Spread across 9,000 square kilometres of wildlife reserve, it will offer a number of outdoor desert activities to the guests, he said.
"It will be opened in this quarter."
Abu Dhabi is to double the hotel capacity to 25,000 rooms by 2012 to cope with a surge in the UAE capital's tourism intake.
ADTA's original target is to increase the number of visitors to 3 million tourists by 2015, a figure that is now under revision given the suggested increase in the five-year plan.
Abu Dhabi is investing Dh25 billion in modernising its airport that will cater to 50 million passengers annually by 2012 and help support its tourism plan.
TDIC reinforced a continued commitment to remaining on schedule with its announced projects and highlighted the significant progress made since the start of the year. In July 2009, TDIC received positive feedback by global investors during the launch of the $1 billion (Dh3.76 billion) bonds sale which was six times oversubscribed. This represented the inaugural issuance under a $3 billion Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) Programme. Prior to this, TDIC was also assigned Aa2, AA and AA ratings from three major credit rating agencies — Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
TDIC has maintained its position as a key player in working towards achieving Abu Dhabi's 2030 vision, with a focus on making Abu Dhabi a world-class tourist destination. Along with its joint venture partners, TDIC has successfully delivered over 1,200 new hotel rooms to Abu Dhabi this year. – Gulf News
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