MARKET REPORT: MIDDLE EAST
Oman Aquarium, both featured as part of the Palm Mall project in Muscat. Majid Al Futtaim’s 137,000 sq m Mall of Oman, which is now under construction in Muscat, will include an 8,000 sq m indoor snow centre and a Little Explorers edutainment centre. The mall is scheduled to open in 2020.
Meanwhile, high-profile, Government-led tourism related projects in Oman also continue to make steady progress. For example, the Mina Al Sultan Qaboos Waterfront project in the Port Sultan Qaboos area in Muscat and Hayy Al Sharq, a 1.5m sqm world-class theme park complex in Barka.
Hayy Al Sharq will boast an integrated theme park, a wildlife and waterpark, an equestrian centre and an edutainment centre as well as multiple hotels, a residential zone and retail areas that will offer a range of retail, leisure and dining options. An article in the Muscat Daily on 17 February 2018 reports that design work on the project is over 25% complete and that site clearance and enabling is 100% complete, though overall construction progress is reported to be only 1% complete. Built on approximately one kilometre of beach front, the project is
Warner Bros. World, Abu Dhabi
The Hunger Games zone, Motiongate Dubai
intended to offer both lifestyle and educational aspects for children and adults. No opening date is yet being reported, however, for the first phase of the project, which includes the theme park and the zoological components.
Plans announced at the end of 2016 to revive the US$ 2 billion Yiti Resort Project, which was to include a marina, souq, beach club, health club, a range of adventure and activity based attractions, three five-star hotels, 1,000 apartments, 720 townhouses, 400 villas and an 18-hole championship golf course, seem to have progressed no further, however, with no recent announcements concerning the project available.
SUMMARY
The number of new leisure and entertainment projects throughout the Middle East region is impressive with a clear sense of urgency evident as Government’s seek to diversify their economies, increase tourism and drive societal progress. The UAE very much continues to lead this process with an estimated market share of over 90% of the revenues generated by large-scale parks and attractions in the region. It is still early days for the many new theme parks that have opened in the UAE but it’s already clear that it’s going to be a slower journey than hoped for the parks to reach maturity.
Of note, however, is that the variety of attractions in the region, both indoor and increasingly outdoor, continues to expand at an impressive pace with the region demonstrating an exciting willingness to innovate and bring new concepts to the region. Phil Taylor is the managing director of Team Leisure (
www.team-leisure.com), a specialist leisure-consulting firm based in the United Arab Emirates. Team Leisure’s services include market analyses and feasibility studies, project development services and operational consulting services to the owners, developers and operators of leisure businesses worldwide.
PARK WORLD Handbook & Buyers Guide 2018 21
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