First Coral International hotel opens in Fujairah

Tourism is growing rapidly in the emirate and hotels are moving in to accommodate the increasing number of visitors, said Michel Noblet, managing director, Coral International Hotels, Resorts and Spas.

“Currently, some 250,000 to 300,000 tourists visit Fujairah annually. And this number is expected to grow exponentially in the coming three to four years as the Fujairah Government works on schemes to improve tourism infrastructure and make the emirate more appealing to visitors.”

The Coral International Hotel, Resort and Spa is located within the newly built Coral Residence Tower, which was inaugurated yesterday by Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Saif Al Sharqi. He was accompanied by top government officials and leading business people.

Speaking to the gathering, Souhail Khalifa Shahheen Al Murar, the owner of the hotel, said: “The government’s keenness to develop Fujairah into a tourist destination has encouraged us to invest in this sector. Thanks to the government’s strong emphasis and vision of developing Fujairah as a leading tourist attraction, it is quickly emerging as a popular destination for leisure and business.”

In addition to the hotel in the centre of Fujairah City, the Coral Residence Tower includes 176 fully furnished apartments. The units range from studios to two-bedroom apartments.

In 2006 the Fujairah Government allocated Dh2.94 billion for the development of the tourism sector over five years.

As a result, significant steps have been taken to enhance the facilities in the emirate. One of the biggest moves was the building of a new 76km road – at an estimated cost of Dh1.2 billion – to connect the emirate to Dubai. The highway is expected to open by the end of this year and will drastically reduce the travelling time between the two emirates to 30 minutes, said Saeed Al Sharqi, head of Fujairah Tourist Department.

Fujairah currently has somewhere between 1,500 and 1,600 hotel rooms. The picturesque emirate aims to increase its total room capacity to 5,000 in the next five years.

The numbers

Dh2.9bn: The amount allocated by the Fujairah Government to develop its tourism sector over the next five years

5,000: The total room capacity aimed for by the emirate in the next five years