Amman, December 12, 2006 

Zara Investment (Holding) Company appointed TUI's Iberotel represented by Egyptotel for Hotels & Resorts to manage its hotel located at Tala Bay in Aqaba.  The hotel is currently under construction.  The hotel will be branded as Iberotel at Tala Bay. The agreement was signed by Yassin Talhouni representing the hotel's owning company  Zara South Coast Development Company (subsidiary of Zara Investment) and Eberhard Graupner representing Egyptotel for Hotels & Resorts.

Scheduled for completion in 2008, Iberotel at Tala Bay will feature 306 guest rooms and suites.  It will include seven world class food and beverage outlets, four pools and unique water features, state-of-the-art amphitheater, meeting facilities, multi-purpose sports arena, tennis courts, kids club, several boutiques, and a spa. 

Iberotel at Tala Bay will be situated at the southern shores of the red sea at the Gulf of Aqaba, a beachfront of breathtaking scenery and untouched corals.  Set on 65,300 square meters, the hotel will be part of Jordan's first integrated resort and residential community known as Tala Bay. It will be part of a group of international hotel chains all slated to open in that area within the coming 18 months.

This development is in line with Zara Investment's aggressive growth policy aimed at maintaining and securing its leading market share in the Jordanian hotel market. 

Chief Operating Officer of Iberotel & Sol Y Mar Hotels & Resorts (Egypt), Eberhard Graupner commented: "The signing of the management contract with the new hotel is for us an important step in the direction of internationalization of our company, we are convinced that Iberotel Tala Bay will be a very good product and it goes without saying that we will do all necessary actions and steps to establish this property in order to become the market leader"

Yassin Talhouni, Head of the Management Committee at Zara South Coast Development Company, commented: "We are very pleased to be striking such an important strategic alliance with such a pioneer in the hotel and tourism industry.  Iberotel at Tala Bay will no doubt play a major role in paving the grounds for establishing Aqaba as a stand alone destination."

-Ends-

About Zara Investment (Holding) Company
Zara Investment (Holding) Company was established on May 10, 1994 as a public shareholding company. Zara's subscribed and paid in share capital as of December 31, 2005 consists of 125,000,000 shares, each having a par value of JD1.  The principal activities of the Company as a holding company is to manage its subsidiaries which operate in the tourism sector and which have built hotels in various parts of Jordan. 

The hotel portfolio of Zara consists of six 5-star hotels out of the 25 five-star hotels available in Jordan.  In addition the company is involved in developing several other hotel projects that are currently in the pipeline.

Today Zara Investment is the largest hospitality company in Jordan.  It controls approximately 31% of the Hashemite Kingdom's total room inventory of 5-star hotels.

Zara Investment is the largest employer in the 5-star hotel industry in Jordan.  It employs approximately 35% of the total employees in the 5-star hotel industry in Jordan.  In addition, it employs approximately 7.5% of the total workers employed and 8.2% of the total Jordanians employed in the tourism industry in Jordan

For more on Zara Investment, please visit:  www.ZaraHolding.com

About Iberotel:
The resort hotels of Iberotel, with their international clientele, enjoy a cosmopolitan flavor. They are located in selected spots in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates including resorts on the Red Sea, on the Mediterranean, in Luxor and in Fujairah. 

For more on Iberotel please visit :  http://www.iberotel-eg.com

© Press Release 2006