usit International, one of Asia’s leading hotel groups, announced plans to open their first resort in the Maldives, Dusit Thani Maldives, Mudhdhoo Island, Baa Atoll.

Located on the breathtaking Mudhdhoo Island, Northwest of Malé, this exquisite resort, scheduled to open in mid December this year, will feature 46 Beach Villas; two Beach Houses; 30 Water Villas; 20 Ocean Villas and two Ocean Houses, with extensive facilities including a 50-metre swimming pool, (the largest in the Maldives), and pool bar; over-water and grill restaurants; tree top spa; tennis courts; dive centre and extensive water activities in and around the resort. It is within 40 minutes travelling time via sea plane from Malé, and 10 minutes by speedboat from the new domestic airport.

Mr Chanin Donavanik, Chief Executive Officer of Dusit International said, “This new project is our first foray into the Maldives, arguably one of the most beautiful destinations on earth. This is a very exciting addition to our growing portfolio and represents a great milestone for the Dusit brand. Dusit Thani will combine the rich flavour of Thai hospitality with the stunning tropical beauty of the Maldives.”

Mr Ahmed Umar Maniku, Chairman and Managing Director of Coastline Hotels & Resorts Pte. Ltd., Maldives and developer of Mudhdhoo Island Resort announced, “Coastline is extremely pleased with the sale of Mudhdhoo Island Resort, to such a highly respected and established brand such as Dusit International. We believe Dusit will bring not only a sizeable financial investment into the Maldives but will add significant value to the training and development of Maldivians through its outstanding hospitality training schools and colleges.”

The sale of the island was transacted by Maldives Resort Island Investments Pte. Ltd., whose core business is Resort Island Sales and Investments in the Maldives. Headed by Tom McLoughlin and Michael Flynn, they commented on the remarkable speed and efficency in finalizing this deal. “ We are very proud and excited to be working with both Coastline and Dusit International on this project. The Island attracted an immense amount of interest, from a wide range of prospective investors, but ultimately Dusit International was carefully selected due to their established brand within the hospitality sector”.

A total investment of some US$77,000,000 has been committed to this project with Dusit International as the majority shareholder. The signing ceremony was held at the Group’s flagship property, Dusit Thani Bangkok.

City.Mobi

Also in Maldives today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Male.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Male.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.