Dubai World to open $25m Five-Star Hotel

KIGALI - Dubai World is set to unveil its US$25m 5-Star Eco Lodge in Nyungwe Forest National Park in the Southern Province, and its opening is set for March 10.The lodge is set to become the second 5-Star Hotel in the country. In an interview with The New Times, Ronel Shaw, the Assistant Managing Director of the Eco lodge financed by Dubai World’s investment arm, Istithmar Real Estate, said that though they will open in March, they hoped President Paul Kagame will officially open it in May. Eco Lodge, surrounded by Gisakura Tea Estate overlooking the lush green forest, is one of the biggest eco lodges in Africa and one of two projects Dubai World is implementing in Rwanda’s tourism industry. According to Shaw, the eco-lodge boasts of a presidential suite and 24 villa rooms. “From the interior design to the stocks, most of the things are going to be Rwanda and from Nyungwe area. We will be serving special Rwandan tea grown around Gisakura area as well as Rwandan coffee,” Shaw said in an interview. She said the hotel will venture into growing vegetables and flowers as well as making eco-bricks for its other establishments. Last year, Dubai World announced that it was putting on hold its planned investments in the country’s tourism industry due to the Global Financial Crisis, but said it would maintain two of its projects in Akagera and Nyungwe National Parks. The Eco-lodge in Nyungwe Forest National Park, which protects the largest single tract of mountain forest remaining anywhere in East or Central Africa and the rare Mountain Colobus monkey, is being marketed to the world by a South African firm, Mantis. Ends