John Johnson, President of Fairmont Middle East and Africa, visits the Nakheel Sales Centre

Accompanied by Wahid Attalla, Executive Director Commercial and Operations for Nakheel and a number of VIP's, Johnson marveled over the hugely ambitious project that has captured the imaginations of people from all around the world.

During his visit, Johnson together with Attalla and James Wilson, President and COO of IFA Hotels & Resorts, monitored the progress on sites of the luxury hotel's development based on the trunk of The Palm Jumeirah. The projects include The Fairmont Palm Hotel & Beach Resort with 300 rooms and the five star Fairmont Palm Vacation Club.

Discussing the projects with Johnson and Wilson, Attalla said, "Both projects will bring tremendous tourism, leisure and residential benefits to Dubai". Attalla then further elaborated by outlining the particulars of each project and said that construction was progressing rapidly on The Palm, Jumeirah with the infrastructure phase now well underway and in some areas of the crescent completed. He also highlighted that the location of the two projects on The Palm, Jumeirah will offer guests fantastic views of the Arabian Gulf and a new level of luxury vacation.

Positioned to be one of the eighth wonders of the world, providing exclusivity to guests and residents the project will open in early 2006. According to Attalla, both Johnson and Wilson were clearly impressed by the vision, planning, research and logistics that are an integral part of The Palm Jumeirah, as well as the challenging schedule set to complete them.

Nakheel's, two palm tree shaped islands - The Palm, Jumeirah and The Palm, Jebel Ali - are expected to contribute to the city's position as a premier global tourist destination. The project will increase Dubai's shoreline by a total of 120km and create a large number of residential, leisure and entertainment opportunities, all within a unique and inspiring setting.

According to Attalla, Johnson and Wilson had previously seen documentaries of The Palm Jumeirah and other Nakheel projects and were impressed by the magnitude, level of research and logistics that has gone into each project. Both representatives from the IFA and Fairmont were also amazed at the challenging deadlines that Nakheel had set itself and its success in achieving these.