Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), the master developer of tourism, cultural and residential destinations in Abu Dhabi, is to introduce five hospitality brands to the UAE by 2013 in conjunction with its joint venture partners. The announcement comes as TDIC showcases all of its forthcoming hospitality projects at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) exhibition in Dubai this week.

St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, W Hotels and Regent Hotels & Resorts are bringing their brands to the UAE for the first time, while Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Rocco Forte hotels will be the first of their kind in the Middle East. Alongside the Westin Hotel & Spa at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Angsana Resort & Spa Eastern Mangroves and seven further hotels on Saadiyat Beach, the five new hotel brands will add to the variety of TDIC’s growing portfolio of hotels and contribute towards Abu Dhabi’s goal of attracting over 2.5 million hotel visitors with 29,100 hotel rooms on offer in the emirate by 2013.

Lee Tabler, Chief Executive Officer of TDIC, commented: “Abu Dhabi is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for international and domestic travellers with a wide range of interests, whether they are on business or leisure. Already in the first quarter of this year the emirate saw a 19 percent increase in the number of hotels guests compared to the same period in 2009. With the staging of key events, including the opening of new arts and sports venues, not to mention high-profile exhibitions, concerts and the attraction of desert culture and beach lifestyle, Abu Dhabi has the wealth and variety of attractions to appeal to all interests - and TDIC’s hotels are being developed to reflect this diversity. The opening of five new hotel brands in Abu Dhabi over the coming three years, to complement our existing and planned hotel developments elsewhere in the emirate during this period, will put Abu Dhabi firmly on the international tourism map and give discerning visitors an even greater variety of places to stay which suit their individual tastes.”

Meanwhile, TDIC is also pleased to announce that it is on schedule with its other projects, including the Eastern Mangroves Angsana Resort & Spa and Westin Hotel & Spa Abu Dhabi Golf Resort.

The only hotel to occupy a prime location alongside Abu Dhabi’s protected mangroves habitat, Eastern Mangroves will be an integrated hotel resort, marina, retail and residential destination that is set to be one of Abu Dhabi’s tourism and leisure hotspots. Guests, residents and daily visitors to Eastern Mangroves will be able to choose to promenade along the waterfront retail facilities or hop off their boats to enjoy lunch at one of the resort’s many restaurants safe in the knowledge that the project has been carefully designed to protect and enhance the unique mangrove setting in which it sits. The luxury five-star hotel resort and spa will be operated by Angsana Hotels and Resorts, part of the Banyan Tree Group of luxury hotels, and will accept its first guests in March 2011.

At the hospitality heart of the revamped Abu Dhabi Golf Resort, TDIC is developing the Westin Hotel & Spa, providing golf lovers with spectacular facilities overlooking the stunning Abu Dhabi Golf Course. The hotel will add a new dimension to the already immensely successful golf club, offering players and visitors exquisite rooms and suites, state-of-the-art business facilities, indoor and outdoor restaurants, swimming pools and access to the newly refurbished falcon-inspired clubhouse, which is due to reopen by the end of 2010. The design of the Westin Hotel & Spa has been finalised and the hotel is expected to open in the second quarter of 2011.

“TDIC along with it’s partners has already delivered six hotels in Abu Dhabi: including Qasr Al Sarab and Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara in the Western Region, and in Abu Dhabi city - Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Park Rotana, Shangri-La Hotel and Traders Hotel. The addition of a further 12 announced hotels still under construction, five of which are new brands to the UAE, will bring the total to 18. What makes all these hotels special is that each has been carefully designed to cater for the unique tastes of each guest so that no matter whether visitors come for business, beach, desert, culture or sport, Abu Dhabi has something to offer,” said Tabler.

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