PICS: Luxury hotel to open before World Cup
12 March 2010, 12:49
By Suren Naidoo
Construction work has been stepped up to 24/7 on the five-star, R400 million Fairmont Zimbali Hotel development near Ballito to ensure that the beach resort is opened in May, before the World Cup.
That is the word from the Kuwait-based developers, IFA Hotels and Resorts (IFA HR), speaking to The Mercury this week. It comes in the wake of a row over an R18 million payment with its principle contractors, Liviero Building, which halted construction on the North Coast development in August.
IFA HR secured an interim order from the Durban High Court restraining Liviero from preventing construction access to the Fairmont Hotel site and cancelled Liviero's contract. A case is now before the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Wessel Witthuhn, IFA HR president for Africa and Indian Ocean region, told The Mercury that despite the setback, the Fairmont Hotel would be completed by mid-May.
"We are steaming ahead, with work continuing 24/7 for the past month... I can't talk about the legal process involving Liviero now, but what I can say is that the hotel will open the month before the World Cup," he said.
"We have employed about 80 percent of the sub-contractors that originally worked on the project with Liviero to get the job done... we are financially sound and committed to our investment in Zimbali and other parts of South Africa.
"IFA is the biggest foreign investor in the tourism industry in KZN and our total investment in SA is more than R1.7 billion.
"We will deliver what we promised at Zimbali - the first internationally branded and operated five-star beach resort in the country."
Witthuhn said the hold-up on the Fairmont Hotel because of the dispute had significant cost implications for the project, but he was loath to give a figure.
"Essentially it's now a matter of putting the finishing touches and fitting out the hotel.
"We will have a 'soft opening' in May and, after the World Cup, a high-profile grand opening.
"We also plan to launch construction on the R150m Gary Player championship golf course soon."
Witthuhn said the new 156-room Fairmont Hotel at Zimbali had secured bookings for the World Cup period.
"This hotel is not signed to Match, but we've already got bookings from Nike bosses for a two-week period during the tournament and an Australian businessman has booked out our presidential suite.
"We anticipate full bookings during the event."
Tourism KwaZulu-Natal chief executive Ndabo Khoza welcomed the news that the hotel would be open in time for the tournament.
Construction work has been stepped up to 24/7 on the five-star, R400 million Fairmont Zimbali Hotel development near Ballito to ensure that the beach resort is opened in May, before the World Cup.
That is the word from the Kuwait-based developers, IFA Hotels and Resorts (IFA HR), speaking to The Mercury this week. It comes in the wake of a row over an R18 million payment with its principle contractors, Liviero Building, which halted construction on the North Coast development in August.
IFA HR secured an interim order from the Durban High Court restraining Liviero from preventing construction access to the Fairmont Hotel site and cancelled Liviero's contract. A case is now before the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Wessel Witthuhn, IFA HR president for Africa and Indian Ocean region, told The Mercury that despite the setback, the Fairmont Hotel would be completed by mid-May.
"We are steaming ahead, with work continuing 24/7 for the past month... I can't talk about the legal process involving Liviero now, but what I can say is that the hotel will open the month before the World Cup," he said.
"We have employed about 80 percent of the sub-contractors that originally worked on the project with Liviero to get the job done... we are financially sound and committed to our investment in Zimbali and other parts of South Africa.
"IFA is the biggest foreign investor in the tourism industry in KZN and our total investment in SA is more than R1.7 billion.
"We will deliver what we promised at Zimbali - the first internationally branded and operated five-star beach resort in the country."
Witthuhn said the hold-up on the Fairmont Hotel because of the dispute had significant cost implications for the project, but he was loath to give a figure.
"Essentially it's now a matter of putting the finishing touches and fitting out the hotel.
"We will have a 'soft opening' in May and, after the World Cup, a high-profile grand opening.
"We also plan to launch construction on the R150m Gary Player championship golf course soon."
Witthuhn said the new 156-room Fairmont Hotel at Zimbali had secured bookings for the World Cup period.
"This hotel is not signed to Match, but we've already got bookings from Nike bosses for a two-week period during the tournament and an Australian businessman has booked out our presidential suite.
"We anticipate full bookings during the event."
Tourism KwaZulu-Natal chief executive Ndabo Khoza welcomed the news that the hotel would be open in time for the tournament.
- This article was originally published on page 5 of The Mercury on March 12, 2010
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