ABU DHABI // World-class golf courses could be developed in some of the most remote parts of the emirate to help boost tourism, it was revealed yesterday.
A new alliance between the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) and Troon Golf, the world's largest golf course management company, will promote the emirate as a future top golfing destination.
Improving the standard of golfing facilities across the emirate is a priority, with new golf developments likely to be built in Al Gharbia and near Al Ain.
They will complement other courses being developed by the TDIC elsewhere in the region.
"Other facilities are on the drawing board and will be progressively announced as confirmation of major developments in Abu Dhabi's eastern and western regions are finalised," said Lee Tabler, the chief executive of TDIC.
"Alongside the courses planned by other private sector developers, the TDIC network will ensure Abu Dhabi rises rapidly up the ranks of the world's fastest-growing international golfing destinations.
"We are currently designing a compelling golf development programme, which will add further credibility to the emirate's sports destination proposition."
In June, Mr Tabler said the TDIC was dedicated to improving golfing facilities to attract more tourists.
"Golf resorts have been shown to be integral to any long-term tourism strategy and TDIC is enhancing Abu Dhabi's golfing facilities with additional world-class courses."
A TDIC spokesman said talks on developing courses in "a number of destinations" around Al Ain and Al Gharbia were continuing.
DJ Flanders, the general manager of the TDIC-Troon Golf alliance, was previously general manager of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club for 18 months.
"Everything is conceptual at this stage, so they are still talking about the individual locations," he said.
"If there is going to be a golf course, you can assume there will be a residential component or a resort component, too. The golf course would be one aspect of a bigger picture.
"TDIC is looking at Abu Dhabi emirate as a whole and looking at how they can increase tourism through the whole emirate, not just on the Corniche or on Saadiyat Island, for example," Mr Flanders said.
"The average spend of a golfer is much higher than your average tourist, too. You have your green fees, hotel spend, retail spend and food and beverage spend. Focusing on the golfer as a tourist component is a very wise effort for TDIC to make."
Under the alliance, Troon Golf will oversee the TDIC's golfing assets, including the new course on Saadiyat Island being designed by Gary Player, the three-time Masters champion from South Africa.
The company is also developing another golf course on Saadiyat Island.
Troon Golf already manages the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, which is owned by TDIC, and where a Dh1.3 billion (US$353.9 million) golfing resort is being developed. The TDIC spokesman said suggestions that a luxury golf course was to be built on Sir Bani Yas Island, 250km from Abu Dhabi, where they were developing a major new resort, were "premature".
Bruce Glasco, managing director of the Europe, Middle East and Africa division of Troon Golf, said the work with the TDIC in Abu Dhabi would bring "international acclaim to the region's leisure and sport activities".
@Email:rhughes@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The years Ramadan fell in May
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa
Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
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
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AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Tim Paine (captain), Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner
