The Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces group has agreed to a strategic partnership with Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) to own and operate the Taj Exotica Golf Resort and Spa in Doha, Qatar.

QSI – a wholly owned entity of the Government of Qatar which identifies and pursues investment opportunities in Qatar’s leisure and sporting industries – will invest US$40m (£21.4m, 31.5m euro) in the Doha resort, which is due to open in early 2009.

The resort will be developed at the Doha Golf Club, located near the west Bay Lagoon, and will be targeted at the premium leisure and business traveller markets.

It will include a low-rise boutique hotel with 150 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar and a Jiva Grande Club and Spa.

There will also be an 18-hole championship golf course and a nine-hole floodlit academy course.

Chair of QSI, Abdulla Khalid Al Qahtani, said: “Our mission is to develop the reputation and stature of Qatar as a sporting nation through investment in exciting and innovative developments in the world of sports, leisure and entertainment.

“This investment marks the beginning of a strategic process that will deliver our mission, both in Qatar and abroad. Taj is the ideal company to manage the first of our endeavours in this space.” Details: www.tajhotels.com

Photograph: Jiva Spa entrance at the Taj Exotica, Bentota, Sri Lanka