$5.5bn offshore island with floating hotels to be built in qatar

For Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup has unlocked a very specific type of potential: one that involves floating hotels.

Oryx Island, announced by Barwa Real Estate this week, will be a $5.5 billion offshore island featuring luxury villas, a water park and no less than five cruise ships to be used as floating hotels. The company, which is part-owned by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, says that the project will be ready for 2022, with accommodation for up to 25,000 soccer fans.

Indeed, demand for housing is expected to surge in the run-up to the World Cup, prompting the state to allocate 40 per cent of its budget until 2016 in improving infrastructure.

“The floating hotels can be used for a short time span,” commented Barwa’s Chief Executive Abdulla al-Subaie. “We anticipate that there will be a short term demand for hotel rooms, so maybe it is not wise to offer all this number of hotel rooms for a longer time.”

Subaie has also announced that the company will sell one million square metres of land to the 2022 Supreme Committee to build Lusail Stadium, where the tournament final will kick off.

The promise of the World Cup has encouraged another developer to enter the market as well: Thailand’s Minor Hotel Group.

The group will launch the Anantara Doha Island Resort and Spa in 2014, reports Property Wire.

“The Middle East is a key strategic area of development for Minor Hotel Group and we are actively looking at opportunities to grow not only Anantara but also our Avani and Oaks brands in the region,” commented the group’s CEO Dillip Rajakarier.

With the tournament still another nine years away, watch this space for more development news.