The Sheraton Sharjah Hotel & Resort, which will be located 10kms from the airport, will play a key role in increasing business travel in Sharjah.
SHARJAH
Often overlooked as Dubai’s less glamorous, more crowded neighbour, Sharjah’s tourism market is slowly beginning to come into its own by establishing itself as a centre for arts and culture in the northern emirates.
“The tourism sector in Sharjah has grown steadily in the past two decades or so, keeping pace with the dramatic changes seen in the emirate’s economy and other sectors of growth. The tourism industry in Sharjah and the UAE is one of the fastest growing in the region.
We are constantly reaching out to new tourism markets by showcasing Sharjah in international trade fairs and exhibitions,” says Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority chairman HE Mohamed Ali Al Noman.
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SCTDA’s efforts are reflected in the growing number of tourists visiting the emirate — in 2012, Sharjah welcomed 1.7 million visitors, and the authority is expecting the number to be even higher in 2013, with 951,592 guest arrivals already reported for the first half of the year.
To keep up with the increasing tourist numbers, the emirate is also encouraging more hotels to set up operations. “We need more hotels across the emirate to cater to the growing tourism clientele in years ahead. This is why the Sharjah government is offering all possible encouragement in this area,” says Al Noman.
The emirate currently comprises 48 hotels and 55 hotel apartments with a combined total of 9093 rooms, reporting average occupancies of 71% in the first half of 2013, compared to 66% last year. Several new hotels, including three Starwood properties – the 220-key Four Points by Sheraton, the Sheraton Sharjah Hotel & Resort with 343 ocean front rooms and 48 suites, and Aloft Sharjah — are set to come online over the next two years.
“We have a pipeline of three hotels in Sharjah. Already a major travel destination for Middle Eastern and European families, Sharjah offers culture and tradition as well as sunshine, beaches and shopping,” says Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ senior vice president and regional director — Middle East, Guido de Wilde.
Al Noman says: “We have been encouraging investments in the hospitality sector in view of the growing number of international tourists every year and in the next three years the number of hotel rooms in the emirate is likely to reach 12,000. Several upcoming projects across the emirate are set to transform the hotel industry in Sharjah.”
Judging by the raft of new projects in the pipeline, Al Noman certainly isn’t overstating facts. GHM Hotels has signed up with Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) to operate the ambitious AED 100 million (US $27.2 million) Al Bait hotel project, which will be located in the emirate’s heritage district, the Heart of Sharjah.
The five-star hotel will be spread over 10,000m2 and will comprise 54 guest rooms. The hotel will consist of several houses and buildings, five of which are heritage houses such as Bait Ibrahim Al Midfa, Bait Eissa Al Midfa, Bait Abdul Rahman Al Midfa, Bait Abdullah Al Mahmoud, and Al Midfa Majlis, and are currently under renovation.
Luxury hotel brand The Chedi will open its first property in the UAE with The Chedi Khorfakkan Resort in Sharjah in 2015. The AED 350 million ($95.3 million) hotel will be GHM’s second partnership with Shurooq and will include 170 suites, restaurants, spa, gym, business facilities and will comprise three components — the fort, the hilltown, and town square.
Shurooq is also busy planning ecotourism projects in the emirate, including Sir Bu Nair Island, which is being developed at a cost of AED 500 million ($136 million) and will be the first integrated tourism project within the islands in Sharjah.
To be completed in 2017, the island will host a luxury five-star hotel and resort, hotel apartments and villas, a camping village, retail shops, a souk, dedicated family areas, an amphitheatre, a museum, a mosque, an education centre, a harbour and an airport.
A second project — the Kalba Eco-tourism Project — will be developed over six years, and will include the development of natural reserves in Kalba, the establishment of a centre within the reserve for visitors, restoration of archaeological sites within the project, development of Kalba Creek and the construction of a commercial complex, development of a number of islands in the creek as well as rehabilitation to revive their natural marine and bird life, and eco-friendly hotels and chalets overlooking the Gulf of Oman.
With more tourists pouring into the emirate and all the new developments in the pipeline, Sharjah is looking optimistically to the future.
“The half-yearly statistics results put great responsibility on us to work with the public and private sectors to expand tourism activities that boost the emirate’s economy by enhancing the coordination between different tourism sector players in the emirate. The hospitality and tourism industry in Sharjah has to make the most of this tremendous growth potential and unfolding exciting opportunities,” says Al Noman.
“We are looking to reach out to new tourism markets around the world. In recent years, we have touched many new markets in Asia and Europe and with our upcoming road show in the US, we hope to reach out to another massive tourism market,” he adds.
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