Gulf Construction Online - OCEC set to name hotel contractors

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The OCEC ... major tourism investment.

OCEC set to name hotel contractors

01 May 2014

THE OMAN Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) will shortly name contractors for two five-star and four-star hotel projects to be built within its precinct, according to a senior official.

“We are in the process of evaluating tenders submitted by various contractors for construction of the two five-star and four-star hotels inside the OCEC premises and the results will soon be intimated,” OCEC’s senior project manager Ahmed El Hassan told the Oman Observer newspaper.

There are 13 to 17 contractors vying for various contracts for the two hotels that are scheduled to open by the end of 2016 or early 2017 and together have more than 1,000 rooms, according to El Hassan.

The project’s promoters, Omran, the government’s tourism-related investment development and management company, said the contractors would be appointed based on their stature and quality of work rather than on the best price.

“We will not go straight to the lowest bid and award the contract; on the other hand, we will evaluate the bidders as to their credibility and solidity and then we will take whoever qualifies to the next round of offering them the contracts,” he said.

Meanwhile, tenders for the construction of a 3,200-seater lyric-style tiered auditorium, two banquet halls, ballrooms, two meeting rooms and the associated facilities were also floated last month, the newspaper added.

Located at Hayy Al Irfan in Bawsher, the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre is one of the key tourism projects currently under way in the sultanate.

Upon completion, it is expected to host significant international, regional and local conventions, exhibitions, meetings, concerts and special events.