New Abu Dhabi sports resort to fuel hotel bookings
Abu Dhabi’s new Al Forsan International Sports Resort located in the heart of the visionary Khalifa City Development will draw hundreds of leisure tourists to the UAE capital, according to its managing director.
Phase one of the resort officially opened on November 24-26 when it hosted the Global Champions Tour Final horse-jumping event.
“Over the three days we had more than 6000 people from the UAE, and also the riders who came from 15-16 countries,” said Atef Nagib.
The event was the first of many planned for the 1.6 million sq m facility which includes a world-class equestrian centre, motor sports circuit, water sports facilities, paintball fields, shooting ranges, and five restaurants as well as conference and meetings space.
“We’re almost ready to finalise the World Paintball Championships and we’ve already committed to the World Wakeboarding Association (WWA) for the next three years. The Wake Park World Championships took place from December 7-10. We also signed up for the Global Champions Tour for the next five years. This is all in addition to the national events,” said Nagib.
When asked how the opening would affect leisure tourism in Abu Dhabi, he said: “We are measuring the impact in coordination with Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and Abu Dhabi Sports Council over the next 12 months.
“Once we have a complete year to look at, we can judge and benchmark ourselves. During the large international events, we expect 300-400 additional hotel rooms to be occupied each night, some events stretch over 10 days so that’s a lot.”
Nagib explained that he was working with all Abu Dhabi hotels to accommodate overnight visitors to the facility, “but the Yas Island hotels suit us because it’s convenient,” he added.
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The sports facility is only the first phase of the privately funded development, the value of which Nagib would not reveal.
“The second phase is a residential gated community comprising 850 units including villas and apartments, which we expect will open in the third quarter of 2012. The villas will be partially for sale and the apartments will be on leasehold.
Phase three of the development is a 400-room hotel to complement the facilities. The Al Forsan Hilton will open mid-2013.
“The big events mentioned don’t make money — they’re a bit of a financial burden, but they are there for the vision. These events are for the ‘macro picture’ to promote the UAE and Abu Dhabi as a destination, ensuring a leading role in the [world] sports agenda. We try to get sponsors to minimise the costs we face,” explained Nagib.
He expected the facilities major sources of revenue generation to be day-to-day walk-in guests, team-building groups and members.
“These markets will make up 90-95% of revenue. Some of the national events will make some money from fees for participants and subscribers, and from the F&B.”
He added that substantial revenue would come from the sale of some of the phase two apartments once completed.