Sunday November 8, 2009
Big plans
THE coming year will bring about much change in Doha.
After 2011, visitors to the “thumb of Saudi Arabia” (because of the peninsular’s unique shape, I am told), will see a city transformed by gravity-defying skyscrapers gleaming in the sun, modern hotels and the sprawling new Doha International Airport, complete with a 100-room hotel.
The new airport’s first phase will be completed in two years. Built at a cost of USD14.5bil (RM49bil) with an initial capacity of 24 million passengers (double its current capacity) a year, the airport is expected to handle up to 50 million passengers by 2015 when the second phase is completed.
The new Holiday Villa. This new terminal sits on 60% reclaimed land, and is owned by the Qatar government and managed by Qatar Airways.
The airline, which prides itself on its 5-star service, is fast-growing and becoming increasingly popular globally. From my experience onboard, it’s clear why – the service and facilities are exemplary.
The country’s national carrier is jointly owned by the government and private investors and has invested more than USD1bil (RM3.38bil) to improve its infrastructure, including building a transit terminal, extending its Premium Terminal (the only terminal in the world where a team of immigration officers are specially stationed to process the travel documents of first and business class passengers) and building additional aircraft parking bays at the new airport.
While other countries are clawing their way out of a global economic crisis, Qatar is projecting a 10% GDP growth, and this is probably most evident from the many buildings mushrooming in Doha’s West Bay district. Most are expected to be complete by 2012.
Some new hotels to look forward to are the Aspire Tower – currently the tallest structure in Qatar at more than 300m. However, the new record is likely to be held by the upcoming Dubai Towers and Barwa Tower and the 4-star Holiday Villa Hotel and Residence which will be officially opened at the end of this year.
Holiday Villa Hotel and Residence general manager Joey Chen says the service apartment and hotel is the biggest in terms of the number of rooms available.
“We have a total of 734 rooms housed in nine buildings specially designed by an architect from Egypt.
“We have invested some RM500mil in this project and are targeting MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) participants,” he says, adding that Qatar’s development is very focused on international sporting events and conferences and the country has put in a lot of money to upgrade such facilities.
n Qatar Airways flies daily from Kuala Lumpur to Doha. New routes to Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), Amritsar and Goa (India), as well as new European destinations will be introduced soon. In January, the airline will add to its Boeing 777s fleet with a view to increasing its flights for the Kuala Lumpur-Doha route.
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