Belluna to open a resort in the Maldives under Westin brand

Japanese mail-order firm Belluna Co. Ltd., aims to open the new resort in Maldives under the management of U.S. hotel chain giant Marriott group in 2018.
The Japanese company has acquired a roughly 60,000-sqm island through a newly created local subsidiary, Miriandhoo Maldives Resorts Pvt Ltd. This September, The Belluna Group decided to carry out a capital increase to develop its Hotel business in the Republic of Maldives. Following the capital increase, the Company’s investment in its subsidiary Miriandhoo Maldives Resorts Pvt Ltd. will exceed 10% of its capital. As a result, Miriandhoo Maldives Resorts Pvt Ltd. is now a specified subsidiary of the Company.
Construction has already begun for the 70 planned villas on Miriandhoo island. Belluna aims to open the resort under the management of U.S. hotel titan Marriott group in 2018. The project is expected to cost in the tens of millions of dollars.
Miriandhoo island is located 112 km away from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in the Baa Atoll and lies just minutes from Dharavandhoo Domestic Airport. The future island resort will be neighboured by Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu, Four Season Maldives Landaa Giraavaru, Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas, Dusit Thani Maldives and Soneva Fushi.
Baa Atoll has been declared a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in June 2011. Baa Atoll harbors global biodiversity including significant concentrations of whale sharks and manta rays. Baa has a particularly high density of the ring-shaped reef forms called faroes, a peculiar reef structure unique to the Maldives.
Belluna is quickly expanding its hotel business in and outside Japan, seeking to branch out from the mainstay mail-order operations. The company has plans to develop a resort in Sri Lanka as well.
Belluna aims to attract a wide range of customers by using the globally recognized Westin brand, by tapping the rise in Japanese, Chinese and European tourists to the Indian Ocean nation.
Maldives continues to be a favorite destination for holidaymakers. Statistics from October 2016 shows an increase of arrivals from 2015 by 3.6% with 1,062,033 visitors. Chinese makeup the bulk of the visitors with a share of 25.1% while Germans are the second largest nationality at 11.1%. Japanese visitors comprised of 2.8% of the total visitors.