HOLY IHOTTZ, BATMAN OUTLINES UNLV AND OTHER PLANS FOR HOTEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 000167

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/ARPI BAGWELL AND MASILKO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/27/2018
TAGS: ECON EINV ETRD SCUL PGOV AE
SUBJECT: HOLY IHOTTZ, BATMAN OUTLINES UNLV AND OTHER PLANS FOR HOTEL
AND HOSPITALITY TRAINING IN RAK

REF: DUBAI 166

DUBAI 00000167 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Paul Sutphin, Consul General, Consulate Dubai,
DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary. In an ambitious bid to meet the region's
swiftly growing hospitality training and infrastructure business
needs, the Emirate of Ras al Khaimah (RAK) and US development
firm Argentum, led by CEO Bobby Batman (also known as Bobby
Batmanghelidj),is developing The International Hospitality
Trade and Training Zone (IHOTTZ),a planned $2.8 billion
training campus and hospitality free zone. With the University
of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) College of Hotel Administration as
a potential anchor tenant, IHOTTZ hopes to draw between 16 and
20 world renowned hospitality, culinary and hotel training
programs to the yet-to-be built campus. However, Batman declined
to discuss these partners, development funding sources, and the
IHOTTZ location in RAK -- leaving us suspicious that IHOTTZ, for
the moment, may be as much a reality as Batman's Gotham City
namesake. End Summary.

Proposed Hospitality Trade Zone

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2. (U) IHOTTZ is planned as a $2.8billion joint venture between
the Investment and Development Office of the Government of Ras
al Khaimah and Argentum (a Vienna, Virginia based development
company). Proposed is a 350 acre facility, comprised of a 90
acre training campus and a 260 acre hospitality industry free
zone development. The ambitious training campus plans call for
16 to 20 educational institutions, including at least 2
hospitality- oriented MBA programs, a culinary school, a college
of hotel administration, training centers for well known
international hotel chains, language, call center and other
assorted training institutions. The 260 acre free zone is to
host everything from hospitality industrial manufacturing and
distribution services to refrigeration warehouses, laundry
operations and industrial baking (all designed to support RAK
and other regional tourist destinations).


3. (SBU) Geared to offer affordable training to the region's
booming hospitality industry, Argentum's CEO Bobby Batman (also
known as Bobby Batmanghelidj) estimated that upon completion (in
about 10 years) the 16-20 institutions combined in the IHOTTZ
training zone would have total annual study and living capacity
for 15,000 students. Intent upon developing regional talent,
the center intends to recruit students from MENA and South Asia,
or as Batman put it "within a 5 hour flight from Dubai on
Emirates Airlines". Specifically, Batman hopes to lure more
Gulf locals into the sector, commenting "Emiritization and
Saudization are critical to the growth of the hospitality
industry in the region."

UNLV coming to the UAE?

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4. (SBU) The "crown jewel" of the IHOTTZ training center,
according to Batman, would be a UNLV satellite campus (UNLV
opened a similar campus in Singapore in 2006). On April 4th,
UNLV regents' green-lighted the self-funding project, dependent
upon completion of RAK conducted feasibility study. UNLV will
not financially contribute to the program; funding will be
raised by RAK and Argentum. Batman suggested the feasibility
study would be completed in the July/August timeframe (Comment:
The study, given RAK's ambitions, is highly unlikely to conclude
anything other than IHOTTZ is a great proposition. End
Comment.) If all goes according to plan, the UNLV RAK campus
could begin hosting students as early as Spring 2010, offering
both a bachelor's degree in hotel administration and a master's
degree in hospitality administration (the curriculum, fees, and
degree, would be identical to that offered at the Nevada
campus). According to the Argentum CEO, nine other U.S.
educational institutions, including Johnson & Wales University
and the University of California system, have been approached
regarding establishing satellite campuses in the IHOTTZ training
center. Batman would not disclose whether any of these
organizations had actually expressed interest in the RAK project.


5. (C) Batman projected a small first class of students would
matriculate in 2010, presumably in UNLV's programs, although
their studies would commence at a temporary location, not at the
planned IHOTTZ campus. Batman declined to name the other groups
and hotels considering opening facilities at IHOTTZ, though he

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dropped names such as Cordon Bleu, Marriott and Hilton as the
"typical" caliber of institution sought. He also declined
describing exactly where in RAK the 350 acres of IHOTTZ would be
located (Note: During at a subsequent meeting with Rakeen COO
Dr. Imad Haffar, a map of RAK development projects failed to
note the IHOTTZ location and when queried as to its location,
Haffar shook his head stating he hadn't heard of the project.)
Finally, when asked the source of funding for IHOTTZ, Batman
replied with a vague "there is substantial private industry
interest", though, according to a Jan 29 'Gulf News' article,
Batman stated that half of the project cost had already been
secured.


6. (C) Comment: While it seems likely that some form of a UNLV
satellite program will come to RAK (and mostly likely reside in
temporary quarters provided by the RAK Investment Authority),
the remainder of the ambitious plan has much of a pie-in-the-sky
flavor to it. Either Batman was being coy in describing his
future partners, funding sources and educational providers, or
more likely they just don't exist yet. The fact that Chief of
Operations at Rakeen (the largely Government of RAK-owned land
developer) and two staff members at the RAK Chamber of Commerce
and Industry were unfamiliar with the project, and that it
doesn't appear on Rakeen's development map for RAK (which shows
both Rakeen and non-Rakeen projects),leaves one suspicious that
IHOTTZ, for the moment, may be as much a reality as Batman's
Gotham City namesake. End comment.
SUTPHIN