HHCP has also completed the designs for the Palm Hotel & Vacation Club resort, which will comprise a 300-room, five-star hotel and 460 suites. This is to be built on a site next to Souk Palm. IFA Hotels & Resorts has appointed Resort Condominiums International (RCI)to manage timeshare services for the resort. IFA Hotels & Resorts president James Wilson says that the firm will announce the name of one of three firms shortlisted for the contract to provide five-star management services for the resort in early 2004.

The third Palm Jumeirah project being implemented by IFA Hotels & Resorts is the Palm Residence Club. This comprises 248 apartments with a beach club. Wilson says 55 per cent of the apartments have already been sold.

IFA Hotels & Resorts is a division of International Financial Advisors (IFA), a joint stock investment firm listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE). Other tourism and leisure projects being pursued include the $50 million, five-star Al-Qasr Hotel in Zanzibar and it has a $10 million, 50 per cent stake in the existing Zimbali beach resort in South Africa. The chairman of the IFA group is Jassim al-Bahar.