How ASDC is transforming Somabay to a first-home destination: When Somabay first emerged as a tourist destination over two decades ago, it had little to offer other than its gorgeous 11-km coastline with a five-and-a-half km sandy beach. Fast forward to today and developer Abu Soma Touristic Development Company (ASDC) has made Somabay a home to a wide selection of luxury hotels and residential properties that exude a certain lifestyle.  

Enterprise sat down with Ibrahim El Messiri, the CEO of ASDC — the master developers of Somabay — who talks us through his strategy to make Somabay a first-home destination where people and families can live, work, study, and enjoy themselves. For El Messiri, this meant finding the right target market and creating the right identity and lifestyle for Somabay. 

El Messiri is no stranger to creating communities and developing cities, having worked with the likes of Bechtel for 15 years and Madinet Nasr Housing for three. His career saw him work on projects such as the Doha International Airport, the Channel Tunnel in the UK, and Abu Dhabi Port.