QDC launches $1bn tourism project in Oman

Quriyat Development Company (QDC), a joint venture between Omani groups Al Madina Real Estate Company and Space Gulf Company, has laid the foundation stone for a $1bn integrated tourism complex (ITC) in the sultanate.

The project is broadly divided into three main sectors: tourism, residential, and recreational.

The tourism facilities include the setting up of a three-, four- and five-star hotel housing a cumulative of 750 rooms, as well as a 9-hole golf course.

The residential space will have in excess of 3,000 residential units with freehold space for citizens and expats, A Times of Oman report stated.

Meanwhile, on the recreational front a water park and a boulevard walkway have been planned, which includes an entertainment centre with a range of restaurants and cafes, as well as a number of cinemas and an integrated health club.

QDC said the project will be developed in three stages with each stage to be completed in five years.

Phase 1 includes key infrastructure of the project, with 400 housing units on 7 million square metres, as well as a four-star hotel with 250-room and suites covering more than 53,000m2, in addition to a residential and commercial quarter (Boulevard) spanning across 53,000m2.

Also part of Phase 1 will be the water park and some recreational and commercial facilities with a total area of more than 38,000m2, QDC said.

The second stage will be the largest in the project and will see the construction of up to 1,200 housing units and a large mosque in addition to a new three-star hotel with a total of 150 rooms.

The 9-hole golf club and golf course, spread across a total area of about a quarter million square metres, will also be constructed as part of the second phase.

The last phase will give rise to a total of 1,364 residential units, including 36 waterfront villas.

These will be developed alongside the expansion of the tourism structure, the addition of 150 new rooms for the three-star hotel, and the establishment of a five-star hotel with 200 rooms.