But that’s why it’s good to be part of a wider group. One of the things I’ve done in Madinah is we’ve managed to take people from locations in Kempinski who are at low season and move them across, but it takes co-ordination and it requires planning.
And also by the same token, you don’t want a high proportion of temporary employees because they never absorb the culture of the company, so your core management has to be very strongly originating from the Shaza routes and basically able to manage the whole tone of service.
“In Karbala there are very distinct seasonal trends that are stronger throughout the year. We anticipate that the occupancy trending will be more stable than in Madinah.”
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The pair are equally confident about the security issues in Iraq and the recent increase in airlines flying to Iraq (Emrates Airline launched a route to Baghdad last month) backs this up.
A specialist security consultancy called Control Risks has been appointed to work with Dewan Inc on the design and construction phases to ensure maximum security on the project.
“The international traveller or even the Muslim pilgrim is becoming more sophisticated, people are generating wealth and you’ll find they are a lot more cultured; people do not just want to visit Mecca and Madinah, they want to visit the other holy shrines and sites around the world,” says Ali.
“In Karbala, throughout the year you have about 18 million people visiting compared to three, four, five million to Mecca during the period of Hajj.
There are many more peak periods in Karbala, I’d say there are about seven or eight peak periods where there are millions and millions of pilgrims. I was there two weeks ago and the estimated population of the town was six million,” he adds.
All things considered — from the secure funding to the design detail — the bold move of Range and Shaza looks set to pay off. As Ali concludes: “We have the advantage of being the first involved in doing something like this. So many other groups are now looking to follow in a destination like Karbala.”
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