A hotel that never sees a single guest or a world map in the sea. Some industry projects worldwide burned money on a grand scale and represented massive tourism failures. To the extent that one does not know whether to laugh or cry about how easy it is to waste enormous amounts of money for almost nothing. Tourism-Review presents some of the most significant tourism failures of all time.
The World Islands
Located in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Dubai, the World is an archipelago of small islands created in the shape of the world map. Construction of the 2003 islands began in 2003 but was halted due to the financial crisis in 2008. Since then there has been a lot of silence on the project. One-third of the islands has not been sold yet and only two have been developed, with only one of them (Lebanon) being used for commercial purposes. As a result, a total loss of 12.5 billion euros has been generated.
Berlin Airport
As the largest airport construction site in Europe, the Berlin Brandenburg Airport celebrated its ground-breaking in 2006. According to initial information, the airport was due to commence operations at the end of 2011, with a date correction setting the official start date to June 2012. Since then, the airport’s inauguration has been repeatedly postponed due to technical and structural deficiencies, resulting in losses of 6.6 billion euros. Currently, the opening is planned for 2021.
New South China Mall
The plan was to build the largest mall in the world and by shopping area only, the goal was achieved. However, the reality is somewhat different from what was expected. Almost no shops, no restaurants, few visitors. On an area of 892,000 m2 – around 125 football fields – there is 660,000 m2 of retail space, which until recently was 99% empty. For this reason, the New South China Mall in Dongguan was long nicknamed as the Dead Mall which has generated losses of over 1 billion euros.
Estádio Nacional de Brasília
On the occasion of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the Estádio Nacional de Brasília was built on the remains of the Estádio Mané Garrincha. The total cost of construction reached 450 million euros, which makes it one of the most expensive stadiums in football history. However, since the World Cup, it has limited use, considering the capital does not have a professional team to cover the monthly maintenance costs of around 180 thousand euros.
The Harmon Hotel
Construction of the $279 million Las Vegas hotel began in 2007. The plan was to build an elliptical tower with a highly reflective façade, 400 hotel rooms, and 207 condominiums. Only one year later, construction defects were discovered. The residential complex had to be completely abandoned in order to reduce the number of floors from 49 to 28. In 2013, the decision was made to demolish The Harmon, with the overall damages reaching 365 million euros.