EILAT and the Red Sea Riviera are poised to receive a raft of new development as the region continues to prove popular with holidaymakers looking for a luxury holiday without breaking the bank.
With 66,000 hotel rooms under construction, not to mention new attractions in the form of golf courses and waterfront projects, the area is set to look a little different.
But where are these new developments taking place? Travel Weekly takes a scout around the region and details what came on board this year and what’s due to arrive in Marsa Alam, Taba, El Gouna, Eilat and Aqaba.
Marsa Alam, Sharm el-Sheikh
What’s new?
The resort of Port Ghalib near Marsa Alam seeks to achieve ‘the functionality of Puerto Banus, the sense of adventure of Sun City and the excitement and allure of St. Tropez’ in the architectural style of Egypt’s 7,000 year history, all this in a $1.2 billion development due for completion in the next 10 years. An entertainment island – with cinema, food court, and a virtual reality centre – is planned for completion by November 2006, as well as an international marina, 1,500-person conference centre and 18-hole golf course and yacht club.
Kicking off the project is Millennium Hotels and Resorts’ new four-star Coral Beach Dive Hotel at Port Ghalib which opened in June. The hotel – the first to open in the marina area – has 206 rooms and suites, 86 due for completion in October, two large swimming pools, a gym, two bars and a restaurant and poolside snack bar.
More deluxe hotel openings, as well as discos, boutiques, and art galleries, are promised by Sun International.
Three hotels are planned for the first quarter of 2007 with a further 19 due to open within the next decade. Sticking to the Lawrence of Arabia concept – minus the sandstorms – Sun will offer themed stays at properties such as The Desert Village Hotel, providing the ambience of a Bedouin settlement with tent-like structures.
Guests can shop for Egyptian arts and crafts in a sanitised version of old-style souk, without the hassle of haggling for all they’re worth.
Port Ghalib has a significant claim to fame as it’s adjacent to some of the world’s most spectacular marine parks, such as Daedalus Reef and Rocky Island, and the resort is the only one in Egypt with safari boats permitted to make direct trips to these treasure troves of coral and exotic fish.
Sample product: First Choice offers the Coral Sea Dive Hotel exclusively in the UK with prices for a seven-night package from £415 per person including all-inclusive accommodation, flights and transfers.
Taba Heights
What’s new?
Taba Heights has been described as ‘Sharm 10 years ago’ but with a 475-room InterContinental Hotel due to open in 2006 – with five restaurants, a shopping centre, 24-hour casino, three swimming pools, a sailing and waterskiing school and an 18-hole golf course – a rapid transformation looks set to take place.
Peltours director of marketing Darren Panto expects the hotel to be a big hit with the UK market adding: “Wherever there’s golf, there are British holidaymakers.” The resort itself will receive further development in the future as a nine-hole course nears completion and plans for more restaurants and cafés come to fruition.
Sample product: Panorama offers seven nights at the Taba Heights Marriott Beach Resort from £445 per person twin-share including flights and half-board accommodation.
El Gouna
What’s new?
The advent of deluxe spas are another reason higher-spending clients are being drawn to the Red Sea.
In July, Mövenpick opened the Angsana Spa, a 12-treatment room, 500sq metre facility operated by the Banyan Tree Spa Academy in Thailand where guests can have a $60 Desert Sand massage – a sand-filled pouch dipped in warm oil designed to relieve muscle tension – or the $125 Nefertiti, which exfoliates skin with turmeric paste followed by a cooling yoghurt splash.
The Mövenpick has also broadened its hotel offering with an additional swimming pool and a Mediterranean restaurant.
Longwood Holidays managing director Rafi Caplin confirmed his clients are now seeking more luxurious accommodation with the Red Sea now being viewed as a luxury destination for premium travellers.
Sample product: Longwood Holidays offers 14 nights at the Mövenpick El Gouna from £675 per person including flights, transfers and breakfast.
Eilat
What’s new?
The 25-year-old Prima Carlton Hotel has undergone a massive transformation, having re-opened at the beginning of the year with a distinct music theme. It now offers 114 sea-view rooms complete with air-conditioning and a CD player, while each floor is dedicated to a style of music. There’s no drum and bass floor as yet, but there is a children’s music club.
Also joining the race to attract families is the Golden Tulip Hotel which completed a $3 million renovation in April, adding a kids’ club and installing winding waterslides to satisfy the most demanding young adventurer.
But the biggest addition for Eilat is the opening of King City biblical theme park earlier this year. Interactive attractions and rides allow visitors to experience a voyage through the past, sailing through King Solomon’s waterfalls and strolling through his stalagmite-laden caverns.
After exhausting the king-sized Cave of Illusion, parents can check out the king-sized beds in one of the 18 newly refurbished suites at Isrotel’s Royal Beach Hotel where presidential suites now boast terrace Jacuzzis and home cinema entertainment.
But perhaps the best way to get away from it all is a visit to the recently opened relaxation pools at the Dolphin Reef – Eilat’s most popular tourist attraction where guests can swim with dolphins.
Surrounded by botanical gardens, these heated pools offer a range of luxurious health treatments, while professionals teach relaxation techniques using underwater music. Sessions of an hour and a half are limited to 12 participants.
Sample product: El Al Superstar offers seven nights at the Prima Carlton from £494 per person including flights and transfers. Agents can earn commission on entrance to the Relaxation Pools and King’s City Theme Park.
Aqaba, Jordan
What’s new?
Of the least underdeveloped towns in the area, the Jordanian port of Aqaba is starting to attract some attention with Panorama and Longwood Holidays featuring it for the first time this year.
Longwood Holidays managing director Rafi Caplin hopes major wrecks and an abundance of colourful coral will attract divers to the area.
June saw the arrival of the InterContinental Aqaba hotel (Travel Weekly August 26), located just 10 minutes from King Hussein International Airport.
Further developments include a $362 million, 610,000 sq metre waterfront complex including six five-star hotels, beaches, restaurants, an entertainment centre, aquarium, health club and convention centre. The project was launched at this year’s World Economic Forum and carries a planned completion date of 2010.
Sample product: Cox and Kings offers three nights at the InterContinental Aqaba as part of its seven-night Petra and the Red Sea private tour with car and driver.
The tour takes in Petra, Jerash and Wadi Rum with prices from £1,065 per person twin-share including flights and breakfast.
