Investment in the Costa Smeralda by the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Qatar

Ongoing investments to renovate hotels on the Costa Smeralda and future plans to focus on tourism. Also with the opening of a new Lifestyle hotel. Qatar, after 13 years, confirms its presence on the Costa Smeralda where, with the Smeralda holding group, it is planning further interventions and projects. And it was precisely investment that was at the centre of the institutional meeting between Mohammed Saif Al Sowaidi, CEO of Qia, Qatar Investment Authority (Qatar's Sovereign Wealth Fund), Sheikh Faisal Bin Saoud Al Thani, Chief Operating Officer of Qatar Investment Authority, Franco Carraro and Mario Ferraro, President and CEO of Smeralda Holding, and the President of the Region Alessandra Todde, Deputy Giuseppe Meloni and the Mayor of Arzachena Roberto Ragnedda.

'It was a meeting with important investors, an institutional meeting, a meeting of knowledge,' the president said at the end. We talked about the investments that have already been made in Sardinia. We hope that the investments will grow and produce value for Sardinia'. An institutional step that the representatives of the territory are also looking at positively and with some expectation.

In the field is Smeralda Holding, an Italian company indirectly controlled by Qatar Investment Authority, the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Qatar, which in 2012 acquired ownership of a real estate portfolio consisting of four hotels - Cala di Volpe, Romazzino, Pitrizza and Cervo - as well as the Porto Cervo Marina, a shipyard, the Pevero Golf Club and numerous complementary assets, including shops, offices, flats, bars, restaurants and 2,300 hectares of land on the Costa Smeralda.

And precisely on the Costa Smeralda, a number of interventions that the group has initiated with its subsidiaries are going ahead. Among these is the completed Cala di Volpe, while at the Romazzino and Pitrizza a redevelopment is underway that will end in 2027, and concerns design and management: the Romazzino from 2024 has become part of Belmond Hotels and the Pitrizza will soon be a Cheval Blanc - both brands of the Lvmh group.

In the group's plan there is a 'continuously evolving' programme to 'adapt the tourist offer to changing needs and customs'. Among other things, new rooms and a new restaurant are planned. The Pitrizza is expected to house a spa. Initiatives include the renovation of the Hotel Cervo and the opening of a new hotel in the centre of Porto Cervo, which 'will have a lifestyle slant', entering a market segment that was not yet served. And then there is the sustainability issue, which, among other things, brings with it the Posidonia reforestation programme in the bay of the Hotel Cala di Volpe, the protection of the dunes at the Grande Pevero in collaboration with the municipality of Arzachena and One Ocean, and the Sea Bins, which collect microplastics in the Marina of Porto Cervo.