Nakheel plans to open The World islands to all

The next time you plan that much-needed break a 'World Tour' would be the best idea!

If Nakheel has its way, then The World islands, which have been sold “only by invitation”, would be open to all.

According to the company Chairman, Nakheel is in talks with tour agencies to start tours to The World Islands from Palm Jumeirah.

“We are trying to develop a tour and cruising business to The World islands from Palm Jumeirah… A lot of tour agencies are asking for such thing,” Ali Rashid Lootah said recently at a press conference.

“A lot of people come to Dubai for short stays and we have been asked for some short term tourism packages… we are in the process of doing that.”

However, it is not known when the tours will start and how much with they cost.

In July, 'Emirates24|7' reported that Nakheel was currently working on finalising prices for islands on its The World project, as investors interest is perking up once again.

“We confirm that we have had interest from purchasers and the properties are currently being priced,” a Nakheel spokesperson told this website.

Lootah reiterated they were working and trying to help investors in The World project.

The master developer has not categorically stated that it had “repossessed” any island, it has confirmed payment defaults were one of the breaches to the sales and purchase agreements. A number of cases have been filed by Nakheel against developers in the Dubai World Tribunal for breach of contract, while it also faces cases for non-fulfillment on the contractual obligation, mostly relating to infrastructure.

The islands, sold only by invitation, were earlier priced in the range of $20million (Dh73.4m) to $50 million. Nakheel claims it has already sold 70 per cent of the 300 islands.

The World project is nine kilometres wide and seven kilometres long. It covers an area of 931 hectares and will add 232km to Dubai’s natural 67km of beachfront. The islands range from 150,000 to 450,000 square feet in size.

The project is divided into private estate island zones, commercial zones, which have low/mid/high density resorts, hubs for ferry transfer points and public visitor areas.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.