By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

OUTRIGGER Enterprises Group, the mother company of the Outrigger Hotel on Guam, has announced a new project for the company in the Republic of Palau.
Outrigger said it has entered into an agreement with Micronesia Investment and Development Corp. and Agora Development Group to manage a new luxury resort project to be built on the island of Koror in Palau.
The resort, to be called the Outrigger Palau Resort Spa and Hotel, will be built on a beachfront site near Echang village. The $40 million resort is tentatively set for completion in late 2009 and will have 100 luxury hotel rooms, 10 over-water bungalows and 50 villas/condominiums, in addition to several restaurants, retail shops, a spa and a function space.
This project marks Outrigger’s return to Palau and an opportunity to work again with MIDCORP and developer Alan Seid who, in 1995, collaborated on the development and construction of the former Outrigger Palasia Hotel Palau.
According to Seid, the Outrigger project will attract more high-spending visitors to Palau, as well as create more jobs.
Long frequented by devoted scuba divers, Palau today is seeing a greater number of mainstream visitors. While many travelers continue to come to dive, fish and snorkel amidst some of the world’s most spectacular marine ecosystems of coral reefs, including the world-renowned Rock Islands, the destination’s rolling hills, old war caves, rocky coastlines, inviting beaches and lush, tropical jungles are attracting a broader range of visitors.
Thus, the Outrigger project comes at an ideal time for Palau as well as for the company. Outrigger has experienced tremendous success over the years in Hawaii’s fast-paced and competitive tourism marketing.
But a decade ago, the company embarked on an aggressive expansion strategy to take its management and development expertise beyond the shores of Hawaii and into the Asia-Pacific area.
That strategy has proven extremely successful with Outrigger properties currently open or under development in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, Bali, Guam and soon Palau.