Q&A: Al Forsan Sports Resort MD

Fast Facts
Name: Al Forsan International Sports Resort
Location: Khalifa City Abu Dhabi
Size: 1.6 million square metres
Offically opened: November 2011
Soft opened: Quarter four, 2010
Staff: 270
Funded: Privately

Occupying 1.6 million square metres in Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa City, the new Al Forsan International Sports Resort is the first of its kind in the Middle East. Managing director Atef Nagib explains how the facility will help put the UAE on the world sporting map

The hosting of the Global Champions Tour Final horse-jumping event from November 24-26 marked the official opening of Al Forsan, how many people attended?
Over the three days we had more than 6000 people from the UAE, and also the riders who came from around 15-16 countries.

Which are Al Forsan's target geographical markets?
We have people coming from the UAE, from all over the GCC and from Europe.

How many staff are currently employed at Al Forsan?
We are currently around 85% staffed, with almost 270 employees already onboard.

Do you use contract staff during such large events?
We subcontract some services such as housekeeping, landscaping and security to the same companies — so the temporary staff are not strangers — during large events, which works well.

What other international events do you expect to host?
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 takes 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.

Are the international events a major source of revenue for the resort?
The big events mentioned don’t make money — they are 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.

The resort is located in the heart of the plan for Abu Dhabi’s visionary Khalifa City development. How does it fit into the wider Abu Dhabi 2030 Plan?
We have so many criteria to work on such as improving the lifestyles of the emirates’ residents — both nationals and expatriates.

The resort is somewhere a whole family can enjoy different kinds of sports or just relax and have a nice meal. It’s a place where we can exploit the talents of our kids and encourage them to compete on a professional level.

Furthermore, it will maintain the UAE on the international [sports and leisure] map as all our facilities are designed and built to exceed professional standards.

Article continues on next page …

What impact will the opening have on leisure tourism to Abu Dhabi?
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.

Have you partnered with specific hotels to accommodate spectators and teams overnight?
We are dealing with all Abu Dhabi hotels, but the Yas Island hotels suit us because it’s convenient.

Phase three of the development is a 400-room hotel to complement the facilities. The Al Forsan Hilton will open mid-2013.

So phase one — the club facilities — is complete, and phase three is the hotel, what is phase two?
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.

Who has funded the project?
It’s the vision of the government and we had every support from them except the money so it’s privately funded through the banks and has to pay itself back.

When do you expect to see ROI?
It shouldn’t take more than four-to-six years with the sale of a number of villas. That’s why I thought of the residential development – to support the project. Otherwise the resort wouldn’t have paid itself back for 20-30 years if optimistic.

What are the resort’s current main sources of revenue?
Our major revenue comes from 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.

How do the membership packages offered work?
We have memberships for families (US $5445 / AED 20,000 per year), couples ($4844 / AED 15,000 per year), and singles ($2722 / AED 10,000 per year) for access to the whole club. The fees are structured to give members value. We grant members 40-50% discount on the sports and leisure facilities.

They get priority for the facilities during peak times and enjoy privileges such as invites to events and discounts on facilities such as F&B. They can come as many times as they like.

How many memberships do you have now and what are your target membership numbers?
Currently we don’t have many memberships because we only recently started our marketing campaign in the GCC, but we have almost 120 members. The club can cater to 2500 members and this is our target. I believe we can reach that within one year to a year and a half.

How will you fill the resort during the hot summer months?
Business should boom in the summer because all of our facilities have substantial, air-conditioned indoor areas, except the water sports which suit the summer weather anyway.

And finally, please tell us a little about your own career background?
I’m from Egypt but have lived in the UAE since 1983. I'm an accountant by profession and have been part of this project since 2005.