LONDON’S latest tourism landmark – The Shard – is launching itself into the Middle East market with its debut at Arabian Travel Market this month.
Promoted as a vertical town offering office, residential, hotel, dining and leisure facilities towering 310 m high, The Shard should strike a chord with Middle East travellers. Developed by Sellar Group, in partnership with the State of Qatar, The Shard and wider London Bridge Quarter are reinventing the way London is perceived, both by its inhabitants and by its millions of tourists each year. “We have created a totally unique European building. The Shard is a vertical town comprising many of the elements you would find on a main thoroughfare – but we also offer visitors from home and abroad the chance to see London as it has never been seen before – from 800 feet in the air,” said Irvine Sellar, chairman of Sellar Group.“The Shard has been described as ‘The New Tower of London’ and, indeed, it has become a modern marker – a compass in our great city pointing towards a new symbol of hope and prosperity. It is a new contour to London’s skyline. It provides a new mental geography, a new way by which people relate to the city,” he added.Designed by architect Renzo Piano, The Shard is Western Europe’s tallest building at 310 m; it is also Europe’s only truly multi-use building, offering London’s highest visitor attraction, a luxury five-star hotel, award-winning restaurants, offices, retail and residential.THE VIEWThe Shard has already become established as a global landmark – as easily recognisable as the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House and the Empire State Building. Its state-of-the-art viewing platform, aptly named The View from the Shard, opened in February 2013. At 800 ft/244 m high – almost twice as high as any other London vantage point – it offers unrivalled views across the capital for up to 40 miles. Many of London’s iconic landmarks, including the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral, can be seen from The View. “The View from The Shard is fast becoming a ‘must visit’ destination for visitors to London. The attraction offers unrivalled views of the UK’s capital for up to 40 miles, augmented by state-of-the-art technology to create a premium quality visitor experience. We were delighted to welcome our millionth visitor in February and look forward to welcoming many more guests from around the world in 2014 and beyond,” says Clive Stephens, CEO of The View from The Shard.The View offers the very latest in viewing platform technology, evocative of that on offer at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. Digital interactive telescopes give crystal sharp views but also supply information about more than 200 landmarks in 10 languages, including Arabic. Visitors can also view day, night, sunrise or sunset panoramas as well as historic views of London selected from the Museum of London’s archives.Clive Stephens and his team will be promoting The View from The Shard at Arabian Travel Market this month, reflecting how important the Middle East tourism market is to The View. TOURISM OFFERINGSet to open this May, the Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard will occupy floors 34-52 of The Shard offering breath-taking views unmatched by any other London hotel. The five-star hotel will include 202 guestrooms and suites on floors 36-50, all featuring floor-to-ceiling windows. The hotel will also provide three dining experiences including a cocktail bar on floor 52, complemented by an infinity pool, called Gŏng. The hotel’s signature restaurant and lounge, Tīng, is also on level 52 while on the ground floor there is an artisan deli, Láng. In addition, the Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, will offer three river facing event spaces on level 34.The Shard also provides its own array of award-winning restaurants on levels 31-33, which have become among the hottest dining venues in London. The building’s food and beverage offering includes a triple height atrium bar, a live music bar, restaurants such as Aqua Shard, New York-style grill Oblix, and spicy northern Chinese cuisine at Hutong. To complement the tourist offering Sellar Group is creating a boutique shopping mall on the main route from London Bridge Underground station, Joiner Street and the entrance to The Shard Viewing Gallery. Known as The Shard Arcade, the mall will be home to a range of international aspirational retailers. LONDON BRIDGE QUARTERThe Shard forms the centre point of a huge regeneration project, known as London Bridge Quarter being ndertaken by Sellar Group.London Bridge Quarter also includes The Place, set to become the new UK headquarters of News UK, one of the world’s leading media groups and owner of The Times, Sunday Times, Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones and HarperCollins. Further development will comprise a 160,000 sq ft, 27 storey, residential building containing 150 apartments, new public space, extensive landscaping and a new multi-level retail space. By Sarah McCay