With Nakheel, IFA was one of the principal platinum sponsors at Cityscape, the International Commercial Architecture and Property Development Event in Dubai.
The call came from Patrick Smith, Vice President Asset Management, IFA Hotels & Resorts who said whilst asset management is a relatively new concept in hotel property development in Europe and the Middle East, owners are increasingly employing asset managers to oversee their assets, taking more control from the owner's side, and working with operators rather than solely relying on them operator to manage their assets.
One of the keys to successful hotel asset management is the buy-in of the operators, he said.
'Many of you will have hotels within your property portfolios, or within your mixed use developments,' Smith told delegates. 'You will have operators clambering over themselves to be your operator of choice, but, when you ask them to get out their cheque books and invest, to share in the capital risk - then their appetites rapidly subside.'
'Within IFA, we operate through strong partnerships and strategic alliances, resulting in operators wanting to invest in our developments, and to share in the upside that can be achieved through developing successful mixed-use resort developments.'
Smith said IFA Hotels & Resorts, which has an extensive international asset portfolio throughout the Middle East and Africa, across a mix of residential, hotel and timeshare developments, has worked hard on creating strong partnerships with operators.
'Each of our assets is individually structured with one of our international strategic partners, who add significant value to the asset, both on the local and international arena,' Smith explained.
He added that on The Palm, Jumeirah, IFA owns two shoreline apartments buildings and is developing the prestigious Palm Golden Mile destination with its joint venture partner, Nakheel, developer of The Palm projects.
IFA is developing together with its partners Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Kingdom Hotel Investment Group, a hotel on the trunk of The Palm, Jumeirah. In addition, it has acquired three hotel plots on island's crescent adjacent to Atlantis.
James Wilson, President and COO of IFA Hotels & Resorts, supported this stating 'Our partnerships have stemmed from the enormous success of our mixed-use integrated resort development in Portugal, The Sheraton Algarve, and the Zimbali Coastal Resort in South Africa with Sun International. The company is also actively pursuing a number of integrated resort schemes on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius and also in Zanzibar and Lebanon.'
'Asset management allows the partners to manage, monitor, maintain and maximise the value of the developments. It applies particularly well to mixed-use developments where freehold properties can be put back into a rental pool run by the hotel operator, leveraging the profitability of the hotel and working with the existing infrastructure that a hotel provides.'
Asset managers, Smith told delegates, needed to be involved in every step of the development - from the financial, legal, design, right through to construction and beyond. But the partnership approach, he said, is the way ahead for a win-win scenario.
'In this way the operator has the potential to earn commission on successful property and timeshare sales. It is a strong partnership because they are effectively dealing with future potential property or timeshare owners, plus they have the brand name and we, as the developer have the inventory.'
Index : Company News : International Financial Advisors : IFA Hotels & Resorts
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Browse related articlesIFA Hotels & Resorts set to revolutionise Mid East hotel ownership strategies
IFA Hotels & Resorts, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuwait's International Financial Advisors, and the largest investor in Dubai's The Palm-Jumeirah, is lifting the benchmark on hotel operation concepts in the Middle East, calling on chains to invest in owners' properties.
- Kuwait: Wednesday, December 01 - 2004 at 13:27
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ABOUT IFA HOTELS & RESORTS -IFA Hotels & Resorts is a subsidiary of the Kuwait-based International Financial Advisors Company (IFA), with expanding tourism interests spanning Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and Africa.
The depth and strength of IFA places it in the forefront of companies engaged in the development of tourism projects, hotels and resorts in Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and Africa.
In the Middle East, IFA Hotels & Resorts is the largest investor in The Palm, Jumeirah, a man-made island offshore Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Its portfolio includes: The Fairmont Palm Hotel & Beach Resort with 300 rooms and the five-star Fairmont Palm Vacation Club on the island's trunk; and the 1,000 room five-star Palm Hotel and Vacation Club on the island's crescent. IFA Hotels & Resorts is also behind The Palm Residence and Palm Golden Mile with more than 1,000 apartments.
The Golden Mile development, a joint venture with Nakheel, developers of The Palm, includes a shopping and residential complex which will cost US$ 300 million; featuring around more than 800 luxury apartments as well as 220 boutique shops and restaurants, the project will overlook a 1.5 kilometre canalside Corniche which will transform it into one of the world's most sought-after waterfront shopping destinations.
Continuing its investment in the Middle East, IFA Hotels & Resorts has acquired 7.5 hectares of land in the Al Abadiyah Hills, overlooking Beirut, Lebanon, where it plans to develop a hotel and vacation club resort.
In South Africa, IFA is involved in a joint venture in the existing Zimbali Coastal Resort (www.zimbali.co.za). Zimbali is a 370 hectare (925 acre) tropical coastal residential and resort estate located on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), 25 km north of Umhlanga Rocks and bordering on the south of the popular holiday destination of Ballito. Zimbali consists of two distinct but uniquely complementary residential and resort estates - the Zimbali Coastal Forest Estate and the Zimbali Golf Course Estate.
IFA Hotels & Resorts recently purchased one of South Africa's most exclusive hideaway resorts - the Zimbali Lodge which will be managed by Sun International Limited. The move is further evidence of IFA's commitment to build and position Zimbali as an exclusive destination for the discerning international traveller.
IFA Hotels & Resorts is the force behind the management of the super-premium Sheraton Algarve Hotel and Pine Cliffs Resort in Portugal; part of Starwood's Luxury Collection; and the Zanzibar Beach Hotel and Resort on the historic Tanzanian spice island.
Recently, IFA Hotels & Resorts forged an exclusive marketing association with FDP Savills, one of the world's leading real estate and property consultants to exclusively market all of FDPSavills' residential properties in the Middle East. In return FDPSavills markets IFA Hotels & Resorts' Middle Eastern properties in the UK and Ireland. This agreement is a diversification for IFA Hotels & Resorts into additional markets, not just as developers but internationally as residential consultants in primary and secondary markets.
IFA Hotels & Resorts aims to link its resorts in The Palm, Jumeirah - Dubai, Zimbali - South Africa, Zanzibar and Portugal with planned resorts in Lebanon and Mauritius. This will offer tourists in Europe, the Middle East and Africa a unique network across the company's respective hotels, resorts, timeshare and residence club destinations.
For further information:
Kuwait
IFA Hotels & Resorts PR
Celia Menezes
Tel: +965 2470743
Fax: +965 2407179
Dubai
IFA Hotels & Resorts PR
Jonathan MacPherson, MCS/Action FZ LLC
Tel: +9714 390 2961
Portugal
IFA Hotels & Resorts PR
Teresa Chatillon
Tel: +351-289-500106
Fax: +351 289-501795
South Africa
IFA Hotels & Resorts PR
Melanie Roberts
Tel: +27-82 378 7486
Posted by Anne-Birte Stensgaard, Senior News EditorWednesday, December 01 - 2004 at 13:27 UAE local time (GMT+4)
Replication or redistribution in whole or in part is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AME Info FZ LLC / Emap Limited.
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