Israel's Tourism Ministry and the Israel Lands Authority announced that the El-Ad Group won the tender for the construction of two hotels in Ein Bokek.
The hotels will include approximately 400 guest rooms.
The lease on the two lots is for 49 years, with an option to extend for another 49 years. The El-Ad Group will pay for each plot NIS 2,379,660 for the land, plus development costs of NIS 6,710,340. These funds will be transferred to the development program, which will be managed by the Dead Sea Preservation Government Company.
The plots (24 dunams and 20 dunams) are adjacent to the Isrotel Dead Sea Hotel. Each plot will include about 180 rooms, which will encourage tourism to the area. As part of the tender, 30% of the accommodation units can be used for special hotel accommodation.
Both plots are part of an approved plan that includes a commercial center, which will both serve the future area and a regional convention center.
Israel's Dead Sea area enjoys the country's highest annual average hotel occupancy rate. In 2017, the Tourism Ministry inaugurated 16 new, accessible and free beaches in the Dead Sea hotel area, between Ein Bokek and Hamei Zohar. Via its subsidiary the Dead Sea Preservation Government Company, the Ministry also built a new and modern 4-kilometer promenade and carried out infrastructure and development work in the area at a cost of NIS 500 million. Now begins the first stage of constructing additional hotel rooms in the area.
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) said, "We are continuing the tourism revolution in the Dead Sea and leveraging it as an attractive and modern tourist destination. Given the significant increase in the number of tourists arriving in Israel, I welcome the start of the process of building hundreds of new rooms at the Dead Sea, for the first time in years."
"Together with the promenade that has already been opened, we will see new commercial and entertainment areas opening, and an increase in the number of hotel rooms, which will contribute to employment and the economy in the region."
Israel Land Authority South Business Area Director Eran Reuveni added, "This tender is the first in the Dead Sea area after nearly 20 years, during which time no new hotels were built in the area. This is a special tender, the first of its kind for hotels, according to which the price of the land is minimal and fixed, and the competition is for the development costs. The State, via the Dead Sea Preservation Government Company, is subsidizing a significant amount of these expenses."
Dead Sea Preservation Government Company CEO Shimon (Shimi) Daniel noted, "This is a formative event that creates change in the region. Having completed infrastructure work and after the significant investments we have made in the region in recent years, we are facing the first stage of expansion of the hotel complex."
"Together with the Israel Land Authority, we have selected the winner to construct the first hotel complex to be built in the area in the past 30 years. We believe that this, together with the massive development in the area, will generate great interest from international investors and entrepreneurs who believe in this unique area."