Timeshares In Iraq

Karbala is the third Holiest city in the Islamic faith, after Mecca and Medina, both of which are found in Saudi Arabia. Range Hospitality is building the first 5-Star hotel in the holy city of Karbala and selling timeshares there.

The Al-Rawdatain Residences will open in 2013 and will also be the largest hotel in the country, with 624 rooms. The main purpose is to house pilgrims to the Holy site Karbala. Thus, selling the rooms as timeshares makes sense for consumers. Unlike timeshares in the United States or Mexico, these timeshares would actually be used by the owner in perpetuity.

Munaf Ali, CEO Range Hospitality, said: “We found that Iraq offers a very favorable foreign investment environment making it a lucrative market for investment. Thus finding a gap in luxury accommodation across all spectrums, we went ahead with this large development to cater to over 20 million pilgrims who visit Karbala every year, and face acute shortage of residences. The fully furnished and serviced Al Rawdatain Residences suites will offer 24-hour security, crèche services, business centre, in-suite dining, four restaurants offering a large variety of cuisines and child care facilities.”

The hotel is designed by Dewan Architects and Engineers, and construction began in August 14th, 2010. It will open “Sometime in 2013,” Majaraj said. Religious tourism has grown in Iraq since the ouster of Saddam Hussein. The company donates 20% of their profits to charity.

Bentley’s $180,000 SUV

Bentley SUV

Recession not getting you down? Kids demanding iPads built into their SUV? The wife insists on sitting in diamond-encrusted leather seats? Bentley has an SUV for you.

The EXP 9 F concept has a 6.0 liter V-12 engine and horsepower that will be in the 600s. All-wheel drive will be standard, and a plug in hybrid will be optional.

Porsche proved the SUV market was ripe for an upscale model 10 years ago when they introduced the Cayenne in 2002. At 48,000 models sold in Europe in 2011, it accounted for half of Porsche’s sales in the region.

North America is still the primary market for European luxury car makers, but China is gaining traction. A third of Bentley’s overall sales of their Continental GT model were in the Far East country.

Bentley hired two former Porsche executives, Wolfgang Durheimer and Rolf Frech to head their new SUV division.

Lamborghini Motors will debut a new SUV at the Beijing motor show in April and Maserati will tune it’s Kubang SUV concept into a production model available next year. The EXP 9 F will cost around $235,000.

American Casino Business Suffers

The MGM Grand, Las Vegas.  

Formerly rosy expectations in better economic times lead to high amounts of debt being taken on by major casinos. In times of high unemployment and little savings, there isn’t a lot of disposable income around American households. This of course has led to the downfall of major casinos.

MGM Resorts International has been near the bankruptcy mark for years; now they are $13.6 billion in debt. Pennsylvania and Delaware have added casino properties, threatening the most famous gambling center east of the Mississippi, Atlantic City. Their market was already shrinking, but many hands in the pot have only made things worse. Next month the 47-story behemoth Revel Resort will open, putting further stress on the old casinos already there. In Reno Nevada the Siena Hotel Spa and Casino went bankrupt in 2010 and the Grand Sierra Resort submitted to a hostile takeover in 2009. In Las Vegas, Caesars Entertainment has $22 billion of debt resulting from going private six years ago.

Ohio voters legalized gambling in 2010, and four new casinos will open next year. Massachusetts has approved the opening of three casinos, and New York is being lobbied to open casinos as well. Every state now has some form of gambling except for Utah and Hawaii.

Many of the casinos deal in timeshares, and this declining market along with decreased tourism overall is having a deadly effect on the gambling industry.