Range Holdings Group, a Dubai developer, plans to invest up to US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn) in the next five years on religious tourism projects in the Middle East.
The company's religious tourism division, Range Hospitality, is in the process of building a $100 million five-star hotel in Karbala in Iraq and examining plots in Najaf, Medina and Mecca for projects.
"The amount of money that needs to be raised for projects like this, if it's a loan or something [else], is in excess of $100 million," said Munaf Ali, the chief executive of Range.
"So we are looking at a sizeable investment in the next five years of somewhere between $500m and $1bn of investment."
In recent years, Range has come up with some innovative investment schemes to fund its development projects.
The Al Rawdatain Residences in Karbala is being built using finance raised from tourists buying timeshares in the hotel.
Prices range from $6,325 to $65,550 for studios and two-bedroom apartments to be used for one week every year for the next 50 years.
"We needed to raise a huge amount of capital to build the hotel, so we looked at giving people fractional ownership so they can own their own room for a period of time," said Mr Ali.
Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, Range Developments, another subsidiary of Range, is building a $200m hotel in which, for $400,000, investors can take a share, a portion of its profits and be eligible for full St Kitts and Nevis citizenship, which offers visa-free travel to 139 countries. The programme was launched in Dubai in May by Denzil Douglas, the St Kitts and Nevis prime minister .
But it is the timeshare model Range Hospitality is considering for other religious tourism projects around the region. It is looking at buying plots of land in Mecca, which is already well-served with hotels and amenities for tourists.
"[Religious tourism] is a huge industry," said Mr Ali. "Here in Dubai it's a tourism industry and it fluctuates with how the global economy is doing.
"The religious tourism industry has different dynamics. People will visit Holy cities around the world whether there is an economic recession or not."
Mr Ali estimates religious tourism is worth $18bn worldwide each year with more than 300 million travellers. Karbala receives about 12 million religious tourists each year.
Buyers in the Al Rawdatain hotel can sell their rooms to other tourists if they do not want to use them during the period they have ownership. The hotel takes 30 per cent of the nightly hotel rate and the buyer takes the remaining 70 per cent.
The Al Rawdatain hotel is expected to be completed by next year and Range has received investment from buyers from around the world, including the UAE.
Travel accommodation revenues in Iraq reached $489.3m last year, up from $475.5m the previous year, according to figures from Euromonitor International.
rjones@thenational.ae
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Director: Tim Burton
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Young women have more “financial grit”, but fall behind on investing
In an October survey of young adults aged 16 to 25, Charles Schwab found young women are more driven to reach financial independence than young men (67 per cent versus. 58 per cent). They are more likely to take on extra work to make ends meet and see more value than men in creating a plan to achieve their financial goals. Yet, despite all these good ‘first’ measures, they are investing and saving less than young men – falling early into the financial gender gap.
While the women surveyed report spending 36 per cent less than men, they have far less savings than men ($1,267 versus $2,000) – a nearly 60 per cent difference.
In addition, twice as many young men as women say they would invest spare cash, and almost twice as many young men as women report having investment accounts (though most young adults do not invest at all).
“Despite their good intentions, young women start to fall behind their male counterparts in savings and investing early on in life,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, senior vice president, Charles Schwab. “They start off showing a strong financial planning mindset, but there is still room for further education when it comes to managing their day-to-day finances.”
Ms Schwab-Pomerantz says parents should be conveying the same messages to boys and girls about money, but should tailor those conversations based on the individual and gender.
"Our study shows that while boys are spending more than girls, they also are saving more. Have open and honest conversations with your daughters about the wage and savings gap," she said. "Teach kids about the importance of investing – especially girls, who as we see in this study, aren’t investing as much. Part of being financially prepared is learning to make the most of your money, and that means investing early and consistently."
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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List of alleged parties
- May 15 2020: Boris Johnson is said to have attended a Downing Street pizza party
- 27 Nov 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
- Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
- Dec 13 2020: Mr Johnson and his then-fiancee Carrie Symonds throw a flat party
- Dec 14 2020: Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative Party headquarters
- Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
- Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
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TICKETS
For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.
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Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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