Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Gulf News
Dubai: Nakheel Hotels, the hotel investment and development unit of Nakheel, is not looking at making new investments this year in order to conserve cash in hand, a top official said on Monday.
The company's current portfolio, which includes assets such as Washington's first W hotel and a stake in Kerzner International, the developer of Atlantis and One & Only luxury resorts, has 27 hotel properties offering 13,000 rooms in 11 countries.
Joe Sita, Nakheel Hotels chief executive officer, told the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference the portfolio was valued at $4 billion and North America accounted for 50 per cent of the company's investment.
He said the strategy this year is to focus on managing the existing assets and control operating costs.
"This year is all about survival," Sita said.
"We are not out in the market [for new investments]. We are preserving cash," he added.
Speaking at the same conference on Sunday, Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, chairman of Dubai World, the holding company of Nakheel, said the group will put on hold projects that it had not started. But Dubai World has vowed to complete all projects currently under construction.
Nakheel Hotels has built up an impressive collection of luxury properties in a short time.
It purchased the famous Hotel Washington in 2006. The 317-room hotel is scheduled to reopen in late summer under the W brand after a multi-million dollar refurbishment.
Recently the company opened the first One & Only resort in South Africa at Cape Town's Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, the famous tourist destination owned by Dubai World with a group of investors.
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
