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Park Analysis www.parkworld-online.com 12 Month Check Up FERRARI WORLD


It was billed as the biggest theme park launch ever in the Middle East, the one that would truly test the water for the development of large scale family entertainment projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Just over a year since the official inauguration of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi (FWAD), the jury is still out. The park’s sleek roof together with attractions such as the world’s fastest rollercoaster stand as powerful symbols of its ambition, not to mention that of Abu Dhabi itself. Developed by Aldar


Properties and operated by Farah Leisure Parks Management under a licensing deal with Ferrari, the park was acquired together with other Yas Island assets by the Abu Dhabi government in early 2011. This December, staff losses and management changes were announced as a result of revised FWAD operating hours. Yet Farah is pressing ahead with construction of the adjacent Yas Waterworld Aqua Park as Yas Island develops into a major leisure destination. Elsewhere there are reports of a possible Adventure World Abu Dhabi resort from the Luxembourg company Les Palm. With more than 12 months’ operation under its bright red roof, Park World assesses the viability of Ferrari World and its wider influence on the UAE attractions industry. We start with the personal views of Phil Taylor, the man responsible for setting up the successful Ski Dubai in the neighbouring Emirate of the same name.


STRUCTURE Ferrari World is an 86,000 square metre attraction set beneath a 200,000 sq m roof surrounded by more than 450,000 sq m of landscaping and infrastructure. The inefficiency of this arrangement is noteworthy. It’s also interesting to note that the attraction part of Ferrari World is the same size as the O2 (‘Millennium Dome’) in London. From an investment and experience perspective, a disproportionate amount of the cost has gone into the building. Little of the scale, clever design or aerial pleasure of the building can be appreciated from the ground; close up the building is industrial, dark and unattractive, particularly on the inside. Many of the individual attractions within Ferrari


World are media-based and are buildings within a building. A wide range of exciting, alternative structural forms that would have worked with the content and not against it could, therefore, have been considered, including solutions that would have allowed more light in. Can it be sorted out? Yes, but it will take more investment and the right people to do it.


CONTENT


The really good thing about Ferrari World is that it’s an indoor attraction, which is a major plus in this part of the world. The venue tends to be marketed as a theme park but, as it stands, it could be considered to have more of the characteristics of a museum. The attractions have a strong informational bias, there is a low level of theming and many of the attractions are hidden away inside buildings or run outside the main building. The overall experience has a low level of repeatability.


It is understood that management is working hard to address the ride reliability/availability issues that have harmed the reputation of the venue and that shortly the last of the attractions that weren’t ready on opening day, such as Viaggio In Italia (Soaring Over Italy), will open.


I might argue that not being creative enough or


Little of the clever design of the building can be appreciated from the ground


open enough about the way the Ferrari brand has been interpreted has, in the end, worked against Ferrari and not for them. My motivation for a visit was to have fun with my family but I’d say that when we left I somehow had less desire to own a Ferrari than when I went in. To borrow a line from Shrek – Ferrari World is,


“like an onion, it has layers.” First impressions can be disappointing but as you spend more time there the quality of the offers and the care with which the attraction has been designed all start to shine through. I’d say it has the potential to be the right product in the right location, but it isn’t there yet. The single biggest requirement Ferrari World has to address, therefore, in addition to getting all the rides working, is to create an atmosphere and ambience of fun by making it much more like a theme park by, perhaps, taking itself a little less seriously.


THEME


There’s no doubt it would have been easier to create an attraction with broader appeal using a range of themes rather than a single theme but there’s no overall reason why a single theme can’t work. Given a blank sheet of paper, however, I doubt a concept based on the Ferrari legend would have the natural choice for the first major theme park in the region. Ferrari is a very adult, male-orientated brand, and speed, cars, engines and racing are all very male focused themes


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FEBRUARY 2012


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