Planet Group invests Dh1.7b in two hotel developments

Dubai: Planet Group, a Dubai-based tourism and ground handling company, is investing Dh1.7 billion in two hotels in Abu Dhabi and one in Beirut, which a top official said is the Gulf's next major tourism destination after Dubai.

"Among these will be a 420-unit serviced apartment complex and a 400-key five-star Planet Hotel in Danet Dubai," George Moussa, chairman of the Planet Group, told Gulf News. "Together, these are Dh1 billion worth projects.

"Abu Dhabi is going to be the next destination for tourism as the government is developing a number of islands to attract tourists to the emirate."

Beach resort

The company is developing a beach resort on a prime land on the hills near in Beirut, with a development value of $200 million. The project will be developed on a 25,000 square metres of land on the beach.

It currently operates two hotels - the 172-room Arabian Courtyard hotel in Bur Dubai and a 69-room hotel in Deira - Galaxy Plaza.

"We are also finalising a deal to develop beachfront resorts in Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Ajman."

The group, which comprises 11 companies, offer complete travel, tourism, conference, exhibition, ground handling and site-seeing both in-bound and outbound. It has recently entered into hotel operation and management. The group's interests also include real estate and construction.

"Last year, we handled 120,000 tourists - both outbound and inbound and the numbers are growing," he said.

The company, which has 700 people on payroll, is building two projects in Ajman, including one to be handed over later this year.

The company's current Dh750 million annual revenue is expected to cross Dh1 billion by 2010, Moussa said.

Planet, which was established in 1989 as a travel and tourism establishment to serve the growing needs of the tourism sector, also represents a number of airlines as general sales agents (GSAs) in Dubai, including Uzbekistan Airlines, Trans Aero, Kyrgyzstan Airlines and Tazikistan Airline.

Planet is one of a few UAE companies that helped the country's tour-ism sector grow while benefitting from the industry's growth as well. It is now expanding globally with a number of offices in key tourism markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

"We are currently present in all the major markets in the Middle East, Central Asia, China and Europe," Moussa said. "We are particularly strong in the Central Asian markets where we are witnessing a lot of traffic."

Moussa said massive Gulf investment is helping the development of Central Asian countries' infrastructure and economy.

Wonderful places

"There are some wonderful places that are still unexplored and a larger number of Gulf travellers are now exploring these," he added.

Global Holidays, part of the group and a leading travel advisor based in Beirut, also holds GSA agreements with Gulliver's Travel Associates and other GCC airlines.

The company posted 60 per cent increase in revenues in 2007 and expects further growth this year in view of positive developments in the country. It has developed a network of over 800 travel agencies.