Year after year, and one event after another, Somabay has never ceased to create memorable experiences, tailoring its upscale services to build an elevated lifestyle for visitors from every walk of life and vacationers of different preferences. With its pristine waters and picturesque surroundings, unrivaled hospitality, and the roundup of diversified F&B outlets, it is fairly common that you’d ponder the possibility of making this breathtaking destination a new home for good.
On the occasion of Somabay Endurance Festival in its Spring Edition that took place from the 26th till the 28th of May, we had a delightful talk with Ibrahim El Missiri, CEO of Abu Soma Development Company, (ASDC), where we asked about this mega event, Somabay’s upcoming expansion plan, and more.
How does an event with the magnitude of Somabay Endurance Festival add up to Somabay brand and how important is it?
The Somabay Endurance Festival is key because one of our main pillars is sports. Therefore, we decided to partner with The TriFactory to bring this kind of activity to this destination, especially that sports have become an integrated element in many people’s lifestyles, especially our target clientele. Somabay focuses highly on sports, and this is since our very beginning. In fact, Somabay Endurance Festival is not our first sports event. We originally started with a golf tournament, and a wide array of watersports including diving, kitesurfing, windsurfing, sailing, and swimming where we brought in Oceanman. We are also working on more involvement in other sports such as tennis. So, as we grow our sports platform we carry on adding up to the brand’s identity.
Hosting thousands of athletes and sports enthusiasts, how do the properties manage and get prepared for such a high occupancy rate?
Of course one of the key elements is choosing the right timing, away from long official holidays, in order to accommodate all people. Also, we make sure that all our partners are well informed beforehand to be ready and gear up ahead of such mega events, meaning all our food outlets have to be ready, plus of course, the logistical part. Worth mentioning that we have been doing this kind of evets for so long now that we’ve got the hang of all matters and essential aspects that make such events run smoothly for everyone.
There are several other sports management companies around, why The TriFactory is your choice for partnership?
We chose to partner with The TriFactory for their previous successes besides the fact that they are a great team to work with and also reliable. Plus, we honestly don’t feel the pressure of preparing because we know what our partners will do and how they will make it a good experience for the participants. They work hand in hand with our hotels and water facilities so we ensure the safety and security and that everyone is having a great time.
As the CEO of ASDC, we would like to know what sets Soma Bay apart from other travel destination around the same area and how does it position itself in the market?
Somabay is naturally distinctive and different in many aspects. We are a boutique, niche, and laidback destination where guests can relish a relaxed lifestyle and we dedicate our efforts to providing different services to cater to this lifestyle. Additionally, our key and significant differentiator is our 11-km coastline. Here at Somabay, you are surrounded by the sea from all sides; it is the only place in the Red Sea that boasts a picturesque sunset. So what we try to do is to develop within this pristine destination but very cautiously in order to protect the environment around us. Moreover, we are very keen on being green; we are building a 5-megawatt solar power plant in order to reduce the impact of the energy that we can consume. Additionally, we use seawater-resistant grass to minimize the impact of desalination. In conclusion, all these different elements contribute together to the uniqueness of Somabay.
We would also like to know more about expansion plans or any upcoming projects?
At the moment Somabay has five hotels which are Sheraton, Robinson, Kempinski, Cascade, and The Breakers, and we are currently building three more hotels to be added to our portfolio. In addition, it is a busy time for us delivering the real estate properties that we sold; we’ve sold around 1200 properties which are currently under development.
On the destination’s side, we are working on a sports hub, we are bringing in a new golf course in addition to our existing Gary Player Championship and we also have our brand new driving range, foot golf, a short game golf academy, in addition to an events platform by the sea and a new watersports facility.
Last but not least, and as more people are now moving towards the Red Sea, we are delighted to have partnered with GEMS International to build the first international school in this area to make it easier for people who want to reside here and relocate with their families.
Can we consider Somabay a year-round destination and are there established communities living here?
First and foremost, for any destination to become year-round place to live or your new home, the services need to be extended all year round, because otherwise staying after the holiday season wouldn’t be possible. Having our hotels operating throughout the year make it easier for people to stay longer at Somabay because all our services and outlets are operating at full capacity any time of the year; unlike other destinations where it is impossible to stay after the summer season has ended.
Now, on the residential side, we are working on extending these services to make property owners use them more and stay longer versus only a couple of months of the year. We are working on providing all the necessities to make this destination convenient for people of every walk of life in terms of establishing connectivity for those who work to conduct their businesses remotely, a fully integrated healthcare system, and of course, on top of all that is education so families find it easier to come and live here with their kids. To start this up we’ve opened KOMPASS, a progressive education system for children, in addition to, as previously mentioned, GEMS. Bringing education to Somabay is a transformative step that will help bring more families in.
If you were to describe Somabay in 3 words what would they be?
I would say sea, sun, fun.
Final words from you to the participants in this event
Good luck with the event and we hope you are having a great time exploring different facets of Somabay whether swimming in those calm and pristine waters, running along our promenade, exploring our golf courses or cycling through our roads, and unwinding at the end of your day after the race. We would love to see you enjoy a well-rounded experience of Somabay and will be waiting for you in the next event.
Comments
Leave a Comment