Natal commits to developing world cup legacy
In an exclusive meeting held during the World Cup with leading Brazilian real estate developer, Ritz Property, Carlos Eduardo Nunes Alves, the Mayor of Natal, outlined the importance of the tournament's legacy on the northeastern city and his commitment to future growth.
The “City of the Sun”, Natal, proved to be a highly successful tournament host, with the brand new Arenas das Dunas staging four group games. Completed on time, the 45,000 capacity arena with its shopping Centre, commercial buildings, high end restaurants, international standard hotels and artificial lake was one of the most praised by FIFA inspectors.
Indeed, the Mayor of Natal was keen to stress that the Arenas das Dunas would be no 'white elephant' with the stadium set to host future concerts, events and sporting fixtures under the operation of an experienced management company with other, similar sites in Porte Alegre and Salvador.
In addition to the continued development of the stadium complex, Mayor Carlos Eduardo Nunes Alves also outlined to the Ritz Property Directors a number of other infrastructure projects set to be completed by December 2014. These include two new road tunnels to improve accessibility, a new viaduct, over 50km of sidewalks and sewerage improvements to address flooding issues. The Mayor was also keen to stress the importance of addressing the ecological balance of Natal, setting a target to plant 20,000 trees by 2017.
One infrastructure project that played a pivotal role in the success of Natal as a host city was the new Greater Natal International Airport. The impressive terminus, the first to be privately operated in Brazil, welcomed passengers from all over the world.
According to the Mayor's office, the World Cup attracted some 24,000 US fans to Natal, over 10,000 from Japan, 9,000 from Mexico, 8,000 from Uruguay and 6,000 from Italy. Many of these made the journey to Natal via the new Greater Natal International Airport with the Mayor stating that the presence of an airport of such modernity and capacity is “key to the growth of Natal as a city but also the northeast region of Brazil as a whole”.
Finally, the Mayor was keen to address the role of foreign direct investment on the future of the city stating that “Natal has vast potential to grow; FDI is extremely important and we treasure investments from partner companies”.
One such company stated by Carlos Eduardo Nunes Alves was Ritz Property who, through their Mercure Natal and latest acquisition, the beachfront Piramide Hotel, will be bringing the Accord Group to Natal for the first time.
Ritz Property Group Sales Director, Andrew Thompson comments: "It is truly superb to see vast infrastructure projects such as the new Greater Natal International Airport being built and ready for business, and you can already see the effect it has had on the previously undeveloped north of Natal.
"Having spoken at length with the Mayor of Natal, we at Ritz Property are confident that things will only continue to get better."