Bahrain to complete resort in two years

14 May 2018
The Al-Sahel Resort will be built on the southwest coast of the island

The local Al-Sahel Resort plans to complete the first phase of the Al-Sahel hotel development on the southwest coast of Bahrain within two years.

The five-star resort will be built on 1.25 kilometres of beach and have both room and villa-based accommodation. It will also feature entertainment and leisure components including restaurants, water features and sports, a cinema, meeting and conference services, and sports and spa facilities.

Dubai-based Jumeirah Group has already signed a hotel management agreement to operate a hotel and spa as part of the first phase of the development.

The development has been planned for more than a decade. It was formerly known as the Salam Beach Resort & Spa development and was being built by Dubai investors before the 2008 global financial crisis.

The scheme is now being developed by the Al-Sahel project company in which Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Company is understood to hold about a two-thirds stake and the UAE’s Dubai Properties Group a one-third stake.

Bahrain also plans to develop a new strip of resorts and residential properties on the southwest coast of the island as part of a new development masterplan that is expected to cost billions of dollars to deliver.

The strip in the Bilaj al-Jazayer area will be anchored by two government-backed resort projects. The rest of the land will be developed by private sector investors.

The two government-backed resorts are a Fairmont operated property at the northern end of the strip and the Al-Sahel Resort at the southern end.

Bahrain’s tourism sector witnessed rapid growth in 2017, with the total number of tourists visiting the kingdom increasing by 11.9 per cent.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.