Ocean deep, mountain high

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The Fujairah Rotana Resort & Spa is co-hosting major events with its neighbour Le Meridien Al Aqah.

Fujairah is quietly establishing itself as a tourism hotspot as a steady stream of hotel names plant their flags in the sand and the combination of mountains, beach and sea prove alluring.

A little slice of history - the Fujairah Tourism Bureau was established in 1995. The following year it took part in Arabian Travel Market and World Travel Market for the first time; Abjar Hotels announced a new 110-bed resort and a consultant was brought in to draw up a tourism masterplan to boost hotel beds to at least 5000 within five years.

A model development was commissioned in 1996 too, encompassing a marina, two hotels, villas, riding stables, 27-hole golf course, and three-kilometre beach at Rul Dadnah, scheduled for a 1999 opening.

Sadly, not much of this happened, and it was seven years later that the emirate got its first new beach resort when Emirates Airline joined forces with the government to develop Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach, giving an added incentive to promote the Fujairah name on the world tourism stage.

Another lull, roll forward to 2008 and the picture has changed dramatically, in hotel terms at least.

The sell remains the same; a backdrop of rugged mountains, a fringe of golden beaches, ancient forts and monuments, an ocean of delights and a location currently some two hours' drive from Dubai, depending on traffic.

All of which underpin its essential charm as a getaway destination long favoured by residents but increasingly being discovered by overseas markets and tour operators in search of the new.

In contrast with its more glitzy neighbours, Fujairah has never gone out to wow its potential audience.

Limited resources, a natural inclination to take things slowly and a reluctance by investors and operators to take the plunge into the east coast waters meant whispers of new hotels for years tantalised the markets, but never materialised - even after Le Meridien showed what could be done.

Today still, the Fujairah Tourism Bureau has a limited role confined to providing the focus for promotion at overseas shows such as WTM and ITB, although the windfall of a tripling of available beds in the past year should engender more funding for marketing the Fujairah name.

"Previously our task has been limited by the amount of rooms on offer, but now this situation is changing and hopefully we will gain approval for increased promotional activities to participate in more exhibitions and improve our exposure," says an FTB spokesman.

"The development of tourism depends on the capacity to cope and now we have more beds we can focus on marketing the getaway feel of the emirate - the difference we offer is that we are not in the Gulf but on the Indian Ocean."

Certainly, the package is now wooing investors and hotel management companies from far and near - Iberotel, JAL Hotels and Rotana have all opened new resorts during the past year around the Al Aqah Beach area and a host of other majors have lined up to hoist their flags in Fujairah, from Australian and Asian names to multi-brand Europeans and iconic North American groups.

In the city itself, increased commercial activity prompted Coral to move in with a 176-apartment property in March that offers a range of dining, banqueting and conference options.

Rotana, Ibis, Novotel and Abu Dhabi-based Escan will be the next names on the streets and incumbent Al Diar Siji has a 78-unit hotel apartment property opening this winter, addressing the need for serviced living in the emirate.

"Siji Hotel Apartments will combine the flexibility of living in an apartment with the service of a hotel," explains general manager, Fouad Melham, who also heads the Al Diar Siji team.

"Each one-, two- and three-bedroom suite will be furnished with superb in-room entertainment and kitchen amenities, providing the atmosphere of a ‘holiday home' for our guests."

The property is 10 minutes from Fujairah International Airport, a five-minute walk to the beach and will feature a pool, gym, business centre and restaurant.

Meanwhile, the Al Diar Siji has upped the ante in anticipation of competition, installing IPTV in all rooms to deliver on-demand entertainment and internet connection as well as allowing guests to access video games, a hotel guide, wake up service, room service ordering and to check their bills.

Also coming up is a 180-room Ibis Fujairah, a 220-room Novotel Hotel & Residence and a 300-bed hotel at Al Fanar Towers, as part of Escan's three tower development in the city, all scheduled for a 2010 launch.

Meanwhile, Australia's Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International is making its Middle East debut in Fujairah with a distinctly different design hotel near the international port, aiming to tap in to the regional corporate and leisure market.

According to Tony Balch, vice president development for the group, the opening date is set for October 2009 and the 217-room hotel will bring in new international markets to Fujairah from its Australasian network and out of Asia and China.

"The typical Rendezvous hotel is 200 rooms plus, four-star corporate in gateway cities and while we see a particularly strong local conference and meetings market from Dubai, our location is also part of the Al Safeer Mall and near the port, which will form a major source of business," he says.

"Fujairah is a hot spot currently with billions being invested in the port, airport, a super highway from Dubai as well as offices, shopping centres and hotels - and the scenery is spectacular with the soaring mountains bordering the ocean."

It's an environment that the 92-room Hilton Fujairah has made its own since its debut on the beach in 1978, benefiting now from increased interest in the emirate with occupancy in the high 80s this year, reveals general manager Louis Victor.

Bullish on the prospects for tourism in the city as well as at Al Aqah he says that 60% of the resort's client base is leisure travel with corporate customers coming in second, followed by meetings business.

"Our main priority will continue to focus on leisure travellers and our AED 10 million (US $273 million) refurbishment concluding this month will see a dramatic facelift of the hotel, to its external structure, guest rooms, health club and restaurants," he adds.

Once promoted as the ‘smallest Hilton in the world', the message this winter is that the new-look hotel will provide Fujairah's perfect boutique style resort, says Louis, one that can be combined with other Hilton properties in the UAE.Northern lights.

Drive north from Fujairah city and - aside from the quaint oddity of the Sharjah enclave of Khor Fakkan sited right in the middle of the emirate - there are a string of developments along the coast that bear witness to the future.

Although not of the size of Gulf ventures, projects such as Mina Al Fajer, Fujairah Paradise, Fujairah Al Dana and even the inland Al Wurayah Valley wilderness eco lodge and Golden Beach resort and waterpark from Escan are making a statement that Fujairah is going places.

The fact Fairmont will put its name to a 200-room hotel at Mina Al Fajer where mountain, marina and solarium villas are also part of the package indicate that the image of Fujairah as a cheap flop-and-drop destination is changing.

On the way is a 287-room Radisson Al Aqah Beach Resort opening in Q3, 2009; a 109-key Angsana, opening next year, details of which are under wraps; the 350-room Iberotel Royal Miramar, again scheduled for a 2009 opening; the 250-key Golden Beach farther north near Dibba; and another resort on the Al Aqah strip developed by Rmal Hospitality, which promises a "new level" of hotel to be run by an acclaimed international operator.

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