Jumeirah Group, a Dubai-based luxury hotel developer and operator, wants to build its first hotel in Hong Kong but is finding the task daunting.

While the firm has seen little impact on business at its luxury hotels, despite the financial turmoil, finding land at a reasonable price in the SAR has proved harder than expected.

"We would like to build our hotel with around 270 to 280 rooms in Hong Kong, preferably in Central, where it has a sea view that boosts our image as a luxury hotel brand," said Francis Killory, vice president of Jumeirah's Asia-Pacific development.

But being as densely populated as it is, Hong Kong doesn't afford cheap prices for good views.

"We will look into matters, such as if we can have a secondary land source or any future reclamation made around the area, and hopefully we can make this possible," Killory said.

Managing the world famous Burj Al Arab, the company has signed deals in the last two weeks to build five new hotels, bringing its total number of new properties under development to 19. Currently, the group manages 11 hotels and resorts.

"With the support of our parent company, Dubai Holdings, we are well on target to achieving our objective of globalizing our luxury brand, and we expect to have 60 properties either in operation or under development by 2012," said Gerald Lawless, executive chairman of Jumeirah Group.

Amid the global financial turmoil, Jumeirah is cautiously optimistic about the outlook for luxury hotels. And following its success in London and New York, the company aims to expand globally, seeing itself competing with Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental hotels.

Asked if the company was affected by the financial crisis, Lawless said: "I don't see any effect on the hotels by the financial crisis yet. The occupancy rate of our hotels remains as high as 86 to 88 percent".

"We are talking about three to five years of development; and hopefully these projects pick up the upswing in the market upon completion, Lawless added.

Concerning the number of planned hotels on the mainland, Lawless said: "Probably around 20 hotels, but the number could go up".

The Asia-Pacific region is a significant growth area for Jumeirah, he said. And as the company develops, at least a third of its portfolio will be in the region. Lawless also noted that 25 percent of the company's current customer base is from China and India.

(HK Edition 10/18/2008 page2)