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ParkWord February 2012


It’s now more than a year since the doors were opened to the vast adrenaline charged, air-conditioned playground that is Ferrari World Abu Dhabi (FWAD). A good opportunity then for a bit of analysis, which is exactly what we do on pages 30 and 31 with the help of local attraction expert Phil Taylor and others. When I visited for the launch last winter, the park actually had something of a serene atmosphere, lacking the obvious intensity of motor racing. Then again, Formula 1 has always bored rather than excited me, so even a V8 engine wouldn’t rev me up.


The real reason the venue was so quiet was that the ruler of Ras Al Khaimah had just died and the entire United Arab Emirates (UAE) was in mourning. Therefore the grand opening ceremony had been postponed and there were just us international media shaking around inside the 86,000 square metre building. Everyone else had taken a pit-stop. Fortunately I did get to experience Formula Rossa, the world’s fastest rollercoaster – a title a lesser motorsport attraction in Germany has yet to steal. That did rev me up. Opening soon will be Viaggio In Italia (“Soaring Over Italy”), the last major attraction to feature as part of the FWAD line-up. I have not yet returned to Ferrari World and seen it full with paying guests. Farah Leisure Parks Management, the park’s operator, does not release attendance figures or targets publicly, however general manager Glenn Davidson tells us, “hundreds of thousands” visited in the first year. It’s also a bit simplistic simply to judge the attraction simply on such numbers. Now owned by the Abu Dhabi government, it has a wider role to play in promoting the Emirate, and in particular Yas Island, as an upcoming leisure destination.


Billed as the biggest theme park launch ever in the Middle East, Ferrari


World has come to fruition where others have failed. Now it is up to the Yas Island waterpark and probable Legoland and Universal parks in Dubai to develop the UAE market further. For the good of the region and the good of the industry it is important they succeed.


Editor Owen Ralph (+44 161 438 2934) parkworld@btopenworld.com


North American Editor Paul Ruben (+1 585 381 1012) parkw@rochester.rr.com


Contributors this issue Dennis Speigel, Stephen Candy, Eugene Gerden


Sales Manager Mark Burgess (+44 1622 699124) parkworld@datateam.co.uk


Publishing Director Paul Ryder pryder@datateam.co.uk Managing Director Parvez Kayani p.kayani@datateam.co.uk Publication Secretary/ Jennifer York (+44 1622 699109) Subscriptions parkworld@datateam.co.uk


FEBRUARY 2012 ISSN: 1462-4796


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FEBRUARY 2012


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