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Country's third five-star hotel begins operation early next year
Raihan M Chowdhury
12/27/2005
Country's third five-star hotel-- Radisson Water Garden Hotel-- begins its operation from early next year.
"We have completed all preparations to start the business and sought the Prime Minister's appointment for formal opening," a Radisson source told the FE.
Currently, the country has two five star hotels -- Pan Pacific Sonargaon and Dhaka Sheraton.
Sonargaon began operation from early 80's while Sheraton started its business in 1966 with the brand name Hotel Intercontinental.
The name 'Hotel Intercontinental' was changed in 1984 with signing of an agreement between the Bangladesh government and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc of USA.
Located near to the diplomatic enclave and upcoming blue chip commercial hub of the city and within five kilometres from Zia International Airport, Radisson bears the trademark of an internationally renowned hospitality brand.
The new hotel project managed by Radisson is the brand's first hotel in Bangladesh and has been developed by Sena Hotel Developments Ltd (SHDL), a local joint venture between the Army Welfare Trust and Sena Kalyan Sangstha.
The Tk one-billion project of SHDL was taken up in 1995 and got the approval from army authority in mid-2000.
Situated on seven acres of land, Radisson has 206 luxury rooms suitable for the business travellers.
Apart from Radisson, three more five-star equivalent hotels are being constructed at an estimated cost of $ 450 million. The hotels are Westin Dhaka, Intercontinental Dhaka and Dhaka Regency.
Of them, Westin Dhaka is expected to launch operations within a few months.
Another one --Intercontinental Dhaka-- being constructed adjacent to Zia International Airport will be opened by the end of next year. Dhaka Regency, another under-construction international business-class hotel under British-Bangladesh joint investment worth 8.5 million pound will be commissioned in 2007.
"We have already completed construction of seven floors of the 15-storied hotel at Dhaka's emerging posh commercial hub -- Nikunjo -- near Zia International Airport", one Dhaka Regency source said.
The luxury hotels are being constructed in Bangladesh as increased tourist flow is giving a boost to the country's hospitality industry, market operators said.
According to sources, every year some 5,000 foreign tourists visit Bangladesh who spend $1,000 each during their visit while around 0.2 million foreigners come to Bangladesh for business or other purposes. The number of business travellers is eyeing a double-digit growth.
As tour operators are now quite organised with many of them having their own hotels, restaurants, ships and buses to provide quality services to the travellers, the travel industry is now growing by around 30 percent a year, according to Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB).
"Foreign companies conduct market study to find lucrative areas of business before opening business in a new country. So, it seems that the foreign business groups which have hotel chain in their business have seen huge scope to develop business here," one hospitality industry source observed.
IPCO Hotels Ltd, a subsidiary of Bengal Group, is the developer and lessee of Intercontinental Dhaka.
It is also constructing a three-star hotel -- Holiday Inn Dhaka -- near ZIA.
Unique Group is the prime sponsor of $36 million project of Westin, the 25-storied hotel located at city's Gulshan area.
The 250-room Westin Dhaka's construction began in late 2000 and is partially financed by IPDC, a leading non-banking financial institution of Bangladesh.
Starwood Hotels and Resort Worldwide Inc of USA provided the equity, technical and management support to the hotel.
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