Aqaba is launching a huge tourism project that will compete with Eilat, three months after terrorist bombings at hotels in Amman, which delivered a severe blow to Jordan’s tourism industry.
The Saraya Aqaba project yesterday broke ground for its $600 million 610,000-sq.m. tourism project surrounding an artificial lagoon along Aqaba’s shoreline. The lagoon will extend the town’s shoreline by 1.5 kilometers. Saraya Aqaba is a subsidiary of Saraya Holdings Ltd, which plans to establish a chain of modern hotels at various locations around the Mediterranean. Saraya Holdings chairman Saad Hariri is the son of the late Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, assassinated a year ago.
Construction of the Saraya Aqaba project is scheduled to be completed in 2009. The project will include five five-star hotels, a water park, shops, restaurants, entertainment and cultural sites, all designed as an ancient city. The project will also include a convention center, mall, and marina.
Jordan currently has 18,000 hotel rooms, including 5,000 five-star rooms.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on January 31, 2006