Radisson opens doors in Ctg
Radisson Blue Chittagong Bay View, the first upscale international hotel in the port city and the chain's second in Bangladesh, opened its doors to its customers on April 14, the Bangla New Year's Day.
The first five-star hotel will be the perfect base for businesspeople and tourists in Chittagong and will meet the long-awaited demand of the people in the port city, the commercial capital which deserves a hotel of that level, Humayun Bakht, managing director of the hotel, said at a media briefing.
“We are very proud to have the second Radisson Blue in operation in Bangladesh. We have 70 Radisson Blue hotels in Asia-Pacific, while we are operating 280 such hotels in over 72 countries,” said Thomas Hagemann, vice president of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group for Asia Pacific. Both the cities, Dhaka and Chittagong, have a good business opportunity, he said.
Mentioning a survey on the number of foreign travellers in the port city through Chittagong airport, he said the number of travellers increased by over 20 percent in the last two years.
The travellers came not only from European countries but also from China and the Middle East, he said. “So there is lot of traffic going in and out.”
The market is stable here, as the country has been experiencing 6 percent growth on average in the last 10 years. “So it was a very good decision to be here.”
“We are the first here and thus we are the first mover in the market.
You see there is a competition in opening hotels in Dhaka. We know that another international operator is planning a hotel here in Chittagong as well.”
“This is a good sign for us that there is development going on. We see good future for business here in Chittagong.”
The hotel has set the opening rate of a standard room at $155, a promotional offer that will remain valid until June, said Geir Sikko, general manager of the hotel. “After that the hotel will then offer more commercial rates depending on demand.”
The hotel on around 89,000 square metres of area has been built by Sena Hotel Development in partnership with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group in three years and nine months. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the hotel on March 1.
The 22-floor hotel offers 241 bed rooms, ranging from 36 to 300 square metres, four international restaurants, three bars, two banquet halls of more than 3,000 square metres, a swimming pool, an outdoor tennis court and a spa centre.
The profits earned from the hotel will be spent for the overall wellbeing of the serving and retired army personnel and their families, said Bakht.
The profits will also be spent for the projects related to the welfare of Bangladesh Army as part of its corporate social responsibility, he said.
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