Dubai, 10 July 05 (WAM)-- BENAA and Dubailand have announced that a vast new complex housing a fully-integrated ?Golf City? will come up at Dubailand.

The agreement to set up the 'Dubai Golf City' was signed by Salem bin Dasmal, Chief Executive Officer of Dubailand with Abdulla Saeed Al Thani, Chairman of BENAA.

More than AED 6.5 billion has been earmarked to be spent on creating the Dubai Golf City signature project at Dubailand. It will be built over more than 55 million square feet of land and it will house five themed signature courses, a golf academy, a six-star resort hotel & spa, golf communities, golf villages and retail souks.

Dubai Golf City is envisioned to have courses that will be challenging and can be used by international golfing leagues for competitions. The project will create and environment that will promote local and regional players to excel at this sport and eventually compete at international levels. Dubai Golf City will be accessible to individuals from all walks of life because of the varied amenities that it will offer making it a destination of choice for tourists and residents.

"Dubai Golf City is yet another premium addition to the value-packed offering of Dubailand. We are tasked with creating something for everyone at Dubailand and we want to do that while at the same time achieve the highest levels of uniqueness, sophistication and quality in each and every of our projects," said bin Dasmal.

"The BENAA Group is committed to upholding the highest levels of quality.

Under the guidance of its Chairman Abdulla Saeed Al Thani, the BENAA Group brings to Dubailand a project that will be among the best in the world. We are assured that the Dubai Golf City will offer the most comprehensive services and facilities related to the sport of golfing that are available anywhere in the world," said the Dubailand CEO.

"The Dubai Golf City will play an important role in achieving our goal of making Dubailand the world's leading destination of leisure and entertainment," bin Dasmal added.

Chairman Abdulla pointed out that: "The city has a very distinctive master plan where much thoughtful planning has been given to 'social interaction' in various project elements with interactive squares, courtyard, plazas, waterfront promenades and traditional souks." He revealed that IMG, one of the world's largest sports marketing group, is on the shortlist of potential partners to design some of the signature golf courses.

Some of Images clients include Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Annika Sorenstam and Sergio Garcia.

"The architecture provides a fusion of Arabic, Islamic and Moorish design elements resulting in a unique development that harmonises with the culture and history of the region. Also, the architectural character of the overall project is very unique and rich," said Abdulla Saeed Al Thani.

The Dubai Golf City will sprawl across more than 55 million square feet making it one of the largest projects in Dubailand.

"We envisage the Dubai Golf City as a one-stop sport and leisure solution for all levels of golfers, tourists and residents. We are building a community where all who love golf and are associated with it can come together and enjoy with like-minded people the love for the sport," Al Thani said.

He pointed out that the promoters have the advantage of having the best project elements in their respective classes. "We will have residential communities offering breathtaking views of the golf courses and the many lakes and will provide a balanced mix of sports, leisure, education, hospitality, retail, and recreation. The idea is to create a self-sufficient community devoted to golf." Dubailand is being developed as an integrated destination devoted to offering the best in terms of tourism, leisure, entertainment and lifestyle. The location within this unique development is key to the success of the Dubai Golf City.

Spread over 3 billion square feet, Dubailand will be the largest and most unique projects of its kind in the region, if not the world. When fully operational, the promoters expect to attract a footfall of more than 200,000 people every day.