Qatari Diar set to launch luxury Tunisian resort

Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company said on Sunday that work is set to start on its first luxury resort project in Tunisia.

A high-level delegation from the company is set to attend a ground-breaking ceremony for the $80m resort in Tozeur, a city located in southwestern Tunisia.

The project will include about 60 luxury hotel suites, high-end health and spa components, retail outlets and restaurants, conference and business facilities, an amphitheatre and an “Arabian Night” tent, as well as desert sports and tennis courts.

Qatari Diar said in a statement that the Tozeur Desert Resort reflected the company's "strategic commitment to supporting development and growth in Tunisia and the wider North African region".

It previously announced it had signed a contract worth more than $543.8m for projects in Egypt.

The contract with with Consolidated Contractors Company allots $464.3m to the company's Nile Corniche project in Cairo and $79.5m to its coastal resort project in Sharm El Sheikh.

The Tozeur resort is intended to contribute to the Tunisian tourism sector by boosting Tozeur's reputation as a local and international tourist destination, the statement added.

The resort is scheduled to open in 2015, according to Qatari Diar's website.

Tozeur, one of Tunisia's 24 governorates once dubbed City of Dreams by the Romans, is a destination for artists, film directors, politicians and journalists.