Ride Profile
Theme park fun arrives on the Asian side of Istanbul
Viasea Air Tower
When Vialand – Turkey’s first theme park – opened in 2013, families in Istanbul greeted its arrival warmly. Located on the European side of the sprawling Turkish metropolis, its offer of spectacular rides, attractions and theming was unlike the many “luna parks” that already populate the city. Yet often congested traffic routes, including the bottleneck that is the Bosphorus Bridge, meant that access for residents on the Asian side Istanbul wasn’t always straightforward. Since last summer, however, they have been able to enjoy a new amusement park bearing the ‘Via’ name
Family Coaster by Intamin
mall, in this case Viaport Marina, just footsteps from the sea. Constructed by Via Tema and ANM Group International – the same team that built Vialand –on a peninsula overlooking the Marmara Sea, the new park is located roughly 60km or over an hour’s drive away from its sister property. Yes, Istanbul really is that big. “Viasea is the only and first family complex of its kind on
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the Asian Side of Istanbul,” highlights Viaport Marina spokeperson Pınar Ümit. “A whole day of entertainment is guaranteed. Beside the amusement rides, this May we plan to open an aquarium and family entertainment centre with bowling, movie theatre and arcade games, all located next to our luxury shopping mall and marina.” Though marketed as a theme (“tema”) park, there is less
theming at Viasea than at Vialand. Several of the rides, the bulk of them from Italian manufacturers, appear simply in their regular catalogue specifications. Yet rollercoasters fans that don’t fancy the schlep over to the European side of the city, will find their needs satisfied by Viasea’s top two attractions, which are repeats of Via Land favourites, both from Intamin. This is in fact the third park in Istanbul to feature ‘Via’ in its name. “There is a small park in our first mall project, ViaPort
Outlet Shopping Mall, which was opened in 2008,” explains Ümit. “However that park is located 20km away from Viasea, where the size, diversity of entertainment and promise are really incomparable.” In setting up the new park, management sought the construction and managerial know-how of their colleagues from Vialand, and Ümit talks of the competent operation team that has been assembled as a result. She also speaks of the potential for cross-promotional campaigns and special offers between the two parks, but not for 2016. Opened on July 14 last year, Viasea has yet to
experience its first full season of operation, but its owners are hoping for an annual attendance of 1.2 million. Located close to Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (Istanbul’s second airport), they will do this by targeting not just residents of Istanbul but also families in an additional four cities close by in the Marmara region. Further parks are a possibility too, both at home and abroad, either via organic growth or merger and acquisition. You heard it here first.
viasea.com.tr 28 MARCH 2016
s with the park that preceded it, and in keeping with its operator’s leisure-meets-retail business model, Viasea is located alongside a shopping
Red Fire
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