Island Hotels Group`s 15th anniversary

Island Hotels Group will this month celebrate its 15th anniversary.

The group said it started out in April 1987 when the Zahra family, with their Holding Company T.M.C. Ltd, formed a company with Vassallo Builders Group to start operations within the hospitality industry.

The group`s first enterprise was the Bugibba Holiday Complex, which at the time had 220 beds and employed 40 staff.

In August 1989, the land next to the complex was acquired and an extension developed, bringing the number of beds to just under 1,000.

The success of the operation encouraged the directors to start looking for another property for development, and in late 1992 the group purchased the 200-bed Salina Bay Hotel.

The hotel was completely refurbished and 200 beds added, and in March 1994 it opened for business as the Coastline Hotel.

Also in 1992, Island Caterers Ltd started operations under the direction of Winston Zahra Jr.

Just as the Coastline was nearing completion, an opportunity to purchase a plot of land in St George`s Bay came about and a decision was taken to invest in a five-star property in the area.

In May 1997, after a construction period of 18 months, the Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort received its first guests.

The group now has an inventory of 2,000 beds spread over the three, four and five-star categories.

In 1998, after the group changed its investment policy and started to invest in joint ventures with third parties, a company was formed with the Farsons Group to take over and run the Fortizza in Sliema.

The group also entered another joint venture with the Westin, Corinthia, Air Malta and the Accor Group to bid for the Dragonara Casino.

The bid was successful and the casino was taken over by the consortium in February, 1999. It was completely refurbished, and reopened under the management of the Accor Group.

Mr Winston V. Zahra, group managing director, said the past years had seen the group consolidating its position as one of the leading companies within the hospitality industry.

The directors are now working to expand further, both in Malta and abroad.

Island Hotels Group today directly employs over 800 people on a full-time basis in addition to a large number of part-time workers.