Marriott International, a US-based hotel chain, on Tuesday entered into an agreement with Jamuna Builders Limited for setting up 700-room JW Marriott Hotel in Dhaka.
Marriott International’s Asia Pacific president Simon Cooper and Jamuna Group managing director Md Shamim Islam signed the deal at the Radisson Blu Hotel in the city.
The hotel will be operated under the brand name of JW Marriott and will be constructed by Jamuna Builders with a cost of $250 million.
‘We are delighted to partner Jamuna Builders to open JW Marriott Hotel in Dhaka and this is the right time to bring our luxury brand to Bangladesh,’ Cooper said.
The JW Marriott Hotel will be set up near the Jamuna Future Park at Kuril in Dhaka and will feature three restaurants, two bars and a spa with eight treatment rooms.
The hotel will also feature 2,280 square metres of meeting space considering the growing economy.
The international passenger traffic in Dhaka grows approximately to 6 million in 2012 from that of 3.2 million in 2005.
‘The hotel market currently is underserved in Dhaka and demand for quality hotel accommodation in the city is growing strongly,’ Cooper said.
Jamuna Group chairman Nurul Islam said that it was an opportunity for Bangladesh and it also hinted that the country’s economy was growing.
‘There will be many business travellers from around the world in the coming days and brands like Marriott International will surely add value to our hotel industry,’ he said.
He said that Jamuna Group was working to build many landmark projects and the effort of Marriott and Jamuna Builders would take it a step forward.
‘Marriott International will operate the hotel under a profit sharing contract with Jamuna,’ Nurul told New Age.
At the deal signing ceremony, information minister Hasanul Haque Inu said Bangladesh would be the next alternative investment destination in Asia.
‘We have our garments industry, overseas workers and agriculture which are running the economy and in coming days outsourcing in many different fields will be another crucial part of it,’ he said.
He said that to facilitate such business the country needed such hotels to accommodate the international travellers.
Earlier Marriott International signed a deal with Union Group of Companies to build jointly a 300-room hotel in the city’s Bashundhara.
The construction of the hotel is underway.
-With New Age input
