InterContinental Hotels Group will manage two hotels in the capital, including a 184-room waterfront property.
The InterContinental Abu Dhabi -Grand Marina is expected to open in 2016 beside the existing InterContinental. And Sands Hotel, one of the oldest in the city, as another locally branded hotel is turning to an international operator to increase competitiveness.
Standing between ageing skyscrapers in downtown Abu Dhabi, the Sands will be rebranded as a Holiday Inn.
Initially established in 1978 as a Holiday Inn, the property changed hands to Abu Dhabi National Hotels, and in 2010 Abu Dhabi-based Danat Hotels and Resorts took over.
The two properties will become the New York-listed company’s second InterContinental and second Holiday Inn in the city.
The four-star, 257-room Sands is owned by Abu Dhabi-based Pearl Azure Hotel Management.
It will target the conferencing crowd. Currently, corporate clients comprise 60 per cent of the hotel’s guests, said Khaled Khedr, the director of sales and marketing at the Sands.
“I don’t think the hotel will remain closed for the transition,” he said. The property employs 180 people, and it was not immediately known whether all will be retained.
The occupancy rate was around 65 per cent for the first half of the year.
A branded property means it could demand higher room rates.
This month weekend prices at the Sands start at Dh193, compared with Dh270 at the Holiday Inn.
“With the growth in demand for midscale hotels in the UAE it is also a good time for us to add the Holiday Inn brand into our portfolio,” said Mohamed Mounib, the group chief executive at National Corporation for Tourism and Hotels (NCTH) and Pearl Azure.
NCTH owns the hotel management company Danat Hotels, and the Abu Dhabi InterContinental. It also manages assets for Pearl Azure, and Emirates Hotels Company.
Danat Hotels manages six other properties in the emirate. That includes the four-star Tilal Liwa Hotel and five-star Danat Jebel Dhanna Resort in Al Gharbia besides the Al Raha Beach Hotel.
For independent hotels, access to global reservation systems such as Booking.com, Agoda and Expedia, is limited unlike international chains, said Filippo Sona, the head of hotels at Colliers International’s Dubai office.
“[International brands] have strong distribution systems and can increase the ability to drive additional volume and revenue to the asset,” said Mr Sona.
The demand for midscale hotels in Abu Dhabi is also increasing, along with a rise in the meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions (Mice) segment and the government’s overseas marketing efforts.
“The mid-market hotels in Abu Dhabi are performing extremely well in terms of occupancy and room rates,” Mr Sona said. “[Where] five-star hotels are suffering in room rates, midscale ones are consistent in their room rates.”
Of the 75 hotels in Abu Dhabi, 53 per cent are internationally branded, 18 per cent locally branded and 29 per cent unbranded, according to Colliers.
InterContinental Abu DhabiGrand Marina will be located close to embassies, ministries and conferencing venues such as Jumeirah Etihad Towers, and would also target the Mice market.
IHG signed it under a 20-year agreement with the National Corporation for Tourism and Hotels.
Pearl Azure owns Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi, Crowne Plaza Dubai and the Sands, besides a shopping complex, residential tower and a commercial tower in Dubai.
IHG manages 17 hotels in the UAE with 4,970 rooms. Of these five are in Abu Dhabi with 1,418 rooms, including two Crowne Plaza hotels. The group has nine hotels in the pipeline in the country. With the new announcements, three of these would be in Abu Dhabi, including a Staybridge Suites expected to open by 2019.
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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MATCH INFO
England 241-3 (20 ovs)
Malan 130 no, Morgan 91
New Zealand 165 all out (16.5ovs)
Southee 39, Parkinson 4-47
England win by 76 runs
Series level at 2-2
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Ashes 2019 schedule
August 1-5: First Test, Edgbaston
August 14-18: Second Test, Lord's
August 22-26: Third Test, Headingley
September 4-8: Fourth Test, Old Trafford
September 12-16: Fifth Test, Oval
