300-room city hotel to be developed in Gan

The government has announced plans to establish a 300-room city hotel in Gan in Addu Atoll.

Minister of Tourism Moosa Zameer told Sun Media that discussions in this regard were held with foreign investors during his recent visit to Singapore, and negotiations were now close to being finalised.

He said that it was one of the government’s priorities to increase bed capacity in Addu Atoll, which is necessary in order to attract more flights to the region.

These plans follow the recent completion of the expansion of Gan International Airport.

“Discussions are ongoing with airlines, including Sri Lankan Airlines, regarding operating scheduled flights [to Gan]. We believe this will be achieved soon. The biggest problem is limited bed capacity, and efforts are ongoing to solve this,” he said.

He added that bed capacity needs to be increased by 4,000 in order to attract more flights, and this will be achieved by expanding Equator Village and Dhoogas Guesthouse in Gan.

The government is also working on expediting the development of a tourist resort in Hanekede in Addu Atoll.

The project was awarded to Singaporean company Crescendas Group by the Nasheed administration back in 2010.

Crescendas Group said construction would begin in January 2014, but the project has been delayed and construction has not begun to date.