During a small ceremony at the Hal Ferh site held on Saturday 9th of January the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism joined the directors of Island Hotels Group Holdings plc to hoist the National and Company flags on the newly acquired site.

Following a recent tender process Island Hotels Group Holdings plc completed the transaction with the Government of Malta and Air Malta plc whereby it acquired the perpetual emphyteusis over the Hal Ferh site measuring approximately 83,000 square metres and the shares in Hal Ferh Company Limited for a total cost of acquisition of circa €12 million. 

The Group intends to develop the site through its newly established affiliate The Heavenly Collection Limited, in which its partners in the Golden Sands Resort also have a 50% equity interest. 

During the ceremony Group Chairman Winston V. Zahra outlined the growth of Island Hotels over the years.  He emphasised the fact that the directors of the group firmly believed in Malta as an island and in the future of Malta’s tourism industry.  “As a result of this belief we invested € 4.4 million in our initial property way back in 1987 and a further € 120 million in three more properties over the past fifteen years.” Mr. Zahra also took the opportunity to highlight the milestones achieved in 2009 whereby the Zahra family increased its equity holding in the company to 75% and saw the company go from a traditional family company to a fully blown corporate entity floated on the local stock exchange.

Island Hotels Group Holdings plc CEO Winston J. Zahra then explained the salient details of the project.  The Group CEO highlighted that the vision of the group for the whole area was to see it developed as a destination of quality is all respects. “We opened the Radisson Blu Golden Sands Resort in October 2005 in time to host 54 heads of state during CHOGM. The opening of the resort set the tone for this area and we are now very much looking forward to developing this new project to even higher standards and with a completely different style but very much on a complementary level from a business perspective.” Mr. Zahra explained that the project will involve the building of 200 condominium style units lying in clusters. The building heights will not exceed one floor on half of the units and two floors on the balance of units.  The size of the rooms will be on average 100 square metres making them the largest and most luxurious on the island.  The buildings will cover a footprint of 17,000 square metres with the balance of 66,000 square metres used for vegetation, landscaping and external recreational areas.  “This is a building density of 20% which is even lower than that of a high end residential area clearly showing that quality is very high on our agenda,” the CEO emphasised. In conclusion Mr Zahra also stated that the Group’s aim was to make this a carbon neutral project and will be working with an engineering team to try and achieve this to make it the first project of its kind to reach this environmental status. “All our projects have been developed on a platform of environmental sustainability but with the Hal Ferh we want to take our environmental commitment to new heights”.

“In the coming months we will be working very closely with MEPA as well as our architects, designers and engineering team to ensure that we come out with a project that the whole island can be proud of and we expect commence development and construction works by early 2011. Our plan is to open for business in early 2013” concluded Mr. Zahra.

Prime Minister Dr. Lawrence Gonzi stated that “It is with pride and satisfaction that I am visiting this complex here today in Għajn Tuffieħa: an area of pristine natural, coastal and rural beauty blessed with two of Malta’s most beautiful sandy beaches - an area which is now being professionally revived and converted into a quality tourism zone offering yet another unique dimension to our diverse tourism offer.

It is when I witness investments such as this one today that I confirm that we can face the future with confidence. Ours is not a declining destination, but one which constantly reinvents itself by aspiring to compete with the best. This is in no small way thanks to our imaginative and creative entrepreneurial class which has the faith and stamina to continue improving and diversifying our tourism offer.

Once again, the private sector is showing confidence and investing over 45 million euro in a project which will see the Island Hotels Group increase its workforce by another 200 people to a total surpassing 1,200.

The Zahra family have once again put money where their mouth is and are leading the way in the further advancement of our tourist industry and of placing Malta as a leading tourist destination in the Mediterranean.”

The directors of the Group were also presented with a flag of the Mellieha local council by Mayor Robert Cutajar who congratulated the directors on their acquisition and welcomed the news of the project which he said will add significant value to the area for the benefit of all involved.