By Janine Oelofse

Building of a five-star luxury hotel worth nearly R1-billion at the Oubaai golf resort in Herold's Bay near George – to be completed for the 2010 soccer World Cup – is on track.

The Global Hyatt Corporation and the MA Kharafi group have agreed that Hyatt will manage the hotel.

The 100-room luxury hotel and resort, to be called the Hyatt Regency Oubaai, will be Hyatt‘s second hotel in South Africa following the Hyatt Regency Johannesburg, which opened in 1995. Building started last August and should be finished in time for the 2010 soccer World Cup, according to project manager Mohamed Shetata.

In a statement on Monday, Hyatt and MA Kharafi said the hotel would open its doors early in 2010.

The hotel will form part of the Oubaai Golf and Lifestyle Centre, an upmarket residential and golf development which includes Ernie Els‘s first 18-hole championship golf course in South Africa, a golf academy and a lifestyle centre. Both the golf course and the lifestyle centre have been completed and are in operation.

The hotel will include a 200-seat convention centre, health spa and a 3000m² shopping complex. The resort is located five minutes from the George Airport and makes an ideal venue for a soccer team base camp.

MA Kharafi bought the Oubaai site, comprising 263 hectares with sea and mountain views, in 2000 with the express purpose of developing a luxury golf and lifestyle estate.

The group has invested more than R650-million in the project and will have spent R920-million by the time the hotel and retail complex is completed at the end of next year.

Mohamed Fahmy, managing director of MAK Hotel Holdings – part of the MA Kharafi group – said: “We are confident that the global travellers coming to South Africa in 2010 will be able to experience a one-of-a-kind African getaway with the availability of first-class leisure facilities.”

Gebhard Rainer, managing director of Hyatt Europe, Africa and the Middle East, said: “South Africa is one of the world‘s fastest-growing holiday and business destinations with endless opportunities for visitors of all interests.

The opening of Hyatt Regency Oubaai is part of Global Hyatt‘s initiative to expand its brand in Africa. “We are particularly proud to be associated with this development, in an idyllic setting overlooking the Indian Ocean.”

MA Kharafi, established in Kuwait a century ago, is a multi-national firm covering construction, manufacturing, IT, aviation, fast food franchises, agriculture, property and hotels.

Global Hyatt has more than 750 hotels and resorts in over 45 countries.

Source: The Herald