The key to any successful vacation is in the planning. The same can be said for making a vacation destination a thriving hot spot. But as it turns out, many tourist attractions werent thought out that well. Case in point: Revel Casino. After two years in business, the luxury resort and casino in Atlantic City just announced that it would be closing its doors forever in September.
And while this seems to be a big fail, it isnt the worst travel flop on record.
Shockingly, there are lots of hotels, entertainment parks, and even beaches that have proved the saying the devil is in the details. We rounded up the worst travel flops ever.
Hope you didnt bet on this baby becoming a winner. Only two years after opening its doors, Revel Casino will shut them for good next month. The $2.4 billion glass-covered casino sits on the north end of the Boardwalk. The goal was for the luxury resort to help provide a much-needed boost to the declining gambling scene in Atlantic City. However, it never turned a profit. After declaring bankruptcy twice the last time in June the company finally decided to wind down the business. The last roll the dice will be September 10.
Talk about getting built up, just to get knocked down! Thats exactly the case with this hotel debacle. In June, MGM began what will be a yearlong demolition project of the only portion of the $8.5 billion dollar, 67-acre CityCenter development that never got completed. TheFoster + Partners-designedHarmonwas set to be a dazzling high-rise, but production was halted in 2008 when construction defects were discovered. Responsibility over the $400-million in damages has since turned into a legal nightmare. And now the 26 floors of the unfinished 47-floor tower are being deconstructed for scrap metal. This just might be Vegas ultimate Strip tease.
The Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea was originally planned to be the tallest hotel on earth. The architectural plans were pimped out in every way including seven restaurants that would be situated at the 100-foot peak and spin in tandem over the Pyongyang skyline. It was supposed to be unveiled the first time by the World Festival of Youth and Students in 1989. Delays were blamed on the lack of raw material supplies. In 2008 an Egyptian company tried to bring the derelict building back to life. The second unveiling was set to coincide with Kim II-Sungs 100 th birthday, but it remains unfinished and unoccupied to this day.
Delay, delay, delay is normally a tactic used by lawyers. But it seems that the contractors in charge of getting Berlins new airport up and running have adopted the saying. The plan for Brandenburg is to replace both the Schonefeld and Berlin Tegel airports. And with more than 27 million annual passengers, it was projected to be the one of the busiest in Europe. Originally slated to open in 2010, the project has been waylaid by poor construction and planning not to mention corruption. Corrective work on the airport is going to take an estimated 18 months before construction can resume. Management has stated that it should be ready by 2015, but insiders hint that the date will be closer to 2019.
This artificial archipelago of small islands was dreamt up by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, to look like the map of the world. And his hope was to turn the World Islands into the playground for the rich and famous. Construction of the 300 islands made entirely of dredged sand began in 2003. But when the financial crisis in the real world, it brought production of this $14 billion-dollar fantastical world to a halt. To date only two of the islands have come to fruition.
With more than 2,600 miles of oceanfront and a location closer to the equator than Rio de Janerio, you would think Chile would be a beach-goers paradise. However, the Humboldt Current, which streams from the Antarctic tip of South America to Chiles western seaboard, is especially frigid and keeps sunbathers at bay. In 2006, the San Alfonso de Mar resort thought of a way around the icy situation by creating the Crystal Lagoon the worlds largest swimming pool. Situated in front of the sea, it spans 19 acres and contains 66-million gallons of temperate water. Its so large even sailboats are able to cruise around insid e it. But with over $2 billion in construction costs and $4 million just for its annual maintenance, it's questionable whether this pool will propel Chile's tourism or ever make a profit.
Tormod Sandtory/ Wikimedia Commons
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World's biggest travel flops
