Jabal Akhdar Resort delayed

It seems there is no magic around hotel development in Oman. The much expected Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort developed by Omran  is announced to be delayed with a year. A 90 days extension was awarded based on a variation order for construction of an additional building. As of January 2013 the project is above 50% completion. Expected opening is  Q4 2014 as opposed to Q4 2013.

I was on my way of getting exited on the push this property would give to the domestic tourism, when this news reminded me of the coded mismatch between planning and realization in this part of the world.

Anyways, given the relatively short delay, I thought would still worth having a look at the proposed concept. Alila is a Singapore based small hotel operator and brand. Their proprieties are promoted as luxury hotels and seem like a lighter version of the more established Aman Resorts. I have never been at any of their six properties (two in Bali, two in Jakarta, one in Bangalore and Goa) but have looked on the reviews the corporate website and checked some of the pricing. This property is planed as a 78  86-room luxury hotel with extensive spa and relaxation offering along with a cliff-side restaurant and pool. Alila was selected as a strategic partner for Omran, as they expressed interest in also managing other future properties in Oman.

I hope it will not cost too much Omran to get Alila run their hotel, as I see little value in having such a brand on this particular property targeting primarily the local and regional market.  Generically I would say you are better off with your own brand rather then going for an expensive international operator when most of the following conditions apply: 

• your location is just great and it pretty much sells itself,
• you have relatively easy access to your sender markets, though own channels or online travel agents (like booking.com etc.)
• you don't have much competition in terms of rate, your product is clearly higher in value proposition, and last but not least
• when you cannot afford an international operator (intl' brand affiliation is an expensive operating cost and can pretty much kill your profits).

Looking at the above, it seems to me that a well construed own brand would make just about the same work or better than Alila would. Of course with a proper management and sales channels in place to address the local and regional markets.

I guess we will have to wait and see.

After posting the above I have been informed by Omran's communication people that some of the information above was not accurate. I was sourcing the factual data from publicly available articles and websites. While I tend to double check what I quote and always link the references, I cannot possible verify the accuracy of these sources. That being said I thank Omran for their clarifications and interest in this blog, and have amended my post to reflect the new information received.