Catering operations helped push Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH) to a profit last year despite a weak performance from its core lodging division. The company, which owns hotels in the capital including the Hilton and Le Meridien, said its net profit for last year was up 48 per cent compared with the previous year, to Dh432.9 million (US$117.8m). ADNH operates a catering division through a joint venture with the Compass Group of the UK, and owns and manages Al Ghazal Transport and Sunshine Tours.
The catering division posted growth of 32 per cent to Dh82m, while the company said that its hotels division's performance softened compared with 2008. "Although a diversified company, ADNH's core strength is and will remain hotels and tourism, and our sector has faced tremendous challenges in 2009 due to the unstable global economic situation," said Saif al Hajeri, the chairman of ADNH. Mr al Hajeri said occupancy levels in ADNH's hotels declined last year, adding that this year was also likely to be challenging.
"The hospitality sector in Abu Dhabi, although affected less than many countries worldwide, does show signs of slowing in 2010," he said. Abu Dhabi last year experienced a decline in the numbers of hotel guests from western Europe. But the company said it was pushing ahead with its expansion in the capital, with its high-end JW Marriott resort on track to open this year. ADNH is developing the JW Marriott Grand Hotel in the area between the two bridges leading off the island. The Venetian-themed resort, which is set among waterways and canals, is to have 500 rooms, 169 branded service residences, 85 land-based villas and 10 overwater villas.
Each water villa will have a mooring dock for a yacht of up to 30 metres. The company said its Park Hyatt hotel, being built on Saadiyat Island, would open in the second quarter of next year. @Email:rbundhun@thenational.ae
Sweet%20Tooth
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
