The Corinthia’s hotel and its Palm City residential complex in Tripoli stayed open throughout the unrest and their owners are now anticipating that business will pick up substantially as the city inches towards normality.
Two separate company announcements on the Malta Stock Exchange website – by International Hotel Investments, which owns the Corinthia, and sister company Mediterranean Investments Holding, owner of the Corinthia-run Palm City – gave similarly optimistic assessments of their prospects yesterday.
Palm City in Tripoli did not shut down for a single day thanks to its courageous team of executives, Mediterranean Investments said, adding it was gearing up for the “influx of business” expected in the coming weeks and months.
In the first company announcement since anti-Gaddafi forces took control of Tripoli, it did not specifically address reports of looting or vandalism.
But a company source in Tripoli who spoke to The Times denied that rebels had violently taken over parts of the property or ransacked the residential units in a bid to hunt down Muammar Gaddafi and his family.
“The rebels came to help us guard the property from a few thieves who tried to take advantage of the unrest. We called for help through the top channels and they came to assist us. They’re very efficient, cordial and organised people.”
Asked whether there was severe looting, the source said: “I wouldn’t call it looting. It’s not what you’re imagining. Some stuff was taken but everything else is intact. There were just a few people after money... nothing major.” He described the situation in Tripoli as joyful: “Everyone is happy here. It’s calm. We hear shooting quite often but it’s usually celebratory. Yesterday they were shooting because they won the football game.”
Mediterranean Investments said it remained “totally committed” towards its investments in Tripoli throughout the crisis, even though occupancy at Palm City was “significantly reduced”.
The company said it was very proud of its nucleus of executives who had the courage and commitment to manage Palm City during “these challenging times”.
Even during the past weeks, which were the most “demanding”, Palm City remained open every day, and more staff joined the team of executives on August 30.
Palm City was adequately secured and was now “in full swing” as it prepared for the influx of business expected in the weeks and months ahead.
The company’s optimism is due to the number of calls received by Palm City tenants and multinational corporations who said they were preparing to return to Tripoli shortly. New clients were also asking to lease residential units with immediate effect, it said.
“The shareholders would like to thank its dedicated people on the ground in Tripoli for their resilience and commitment shown throughout this challenging period.”
Meanwhile, International Hotel Investments said the hotel continued to operate throughout the crisis and was now restoring its services to a normal level while seeing a sharp increase in demand.
“Since the crisis broke out in February the hotel has been operating continually albeit on a limited volume of occupancy. Operations were carried out by a team of expatriates and supported by Libyan personnel. IHI is grateful to all its colleagues in Tripoli who ensured that the property was properly maintained and safeguarded.”
The hotel is taking all the necessary security measures to ensure the safety of its colleagues and its clients as well as to preserve the integrity of the property.
The company said it would continue with its investment in Libya and “actively participate” in the country’s economic future.