MARKET REPORT: MIDDLE EAST
theme park (previously referred to either as the Wonder Dome indoor theme park or before that as Adventure Land) located at Oasis Mall, part of the Musheireb, Heart of Doha project was also expected to open in 2019 but on-line photos of the park’s impressive interiors confirm that the park should open late 2020 once the Covid-19 restrictions on cinemas and attractions and the like are lifted, currently anticipated for 1 September 2020. Of note also is that the new National Museum of Qatar designed by Jean Nouvel, which opened to the public on 28 March 2019, has had over 600,000 visitors in its first year of operation. Looking beyond 2020, work on
expected to be considerably delayed if the global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is slow. Opening of the first phase of Al Qiddiya was previously slated for 2022 but could now readily be much later than this.
The headline projects, though, are still
Neom City and the Red Sea Project. Neom City is a proposed 26,500 sq kms, US$ 500 billion new city of the future close to the border with Jordan with a possible bridge to Egypt. The Red Sea Project is a 500 hectares
luxury tourism project, aimed principally at the domestic and Umrah tourist markets, that includes 200 km of coastline and 50 untouched islands. Phase 1 was forecast to open by 2022 and the project completed by 2028 but, as for Al Qiddiya, this could now be considerably delayed. It’s not just about mega-projects, though. Saudi Arabia is expected to be still looking to develop a range of nature reserves and mountain resorts with adventure centres throughout the Kingdom but at a slower pace than was previously hoped. Nor is everything Government-led, of
course, but for the time being it can be safely assumed that all private led attraction projects in the Kingdom are on hold until further notice. The key challenge for existing operators, of course, is to be able to re- open and to assess what the impact of the
PARK WORLD Handbook & Buyer’s Guide 2020 29
economic changes that are being forced on the Kingdom will be and its impact on their existing portfolio of attractions.
Qatar 2019 was a pivotal year for the attractions industry in Qatar with both the outdoor part of Angry Birds World and Snow Dunes, an indoor snow play centre, opening in April at Doha Festival City and KidZania Doha at Hyatt Plaza Mall opening in the same month. The 28,000 sqm, US$ 300 million Doha Oasis Quest, an indoor experiential
Qetaifan Water Park, which is expected to open in 2022 as part of a luxury four-star resort on an island off the coast of Lusail is understood to be ongoing and is the only notable leisure project in Qatar in the pipeline. As in the UAE, there were no new
attraction projects announced in 2019 or 2020 to date, which is not surprisingly, perhaps, given the focus on projects related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Four out of eight stadiums are understood to be complete with work on the other four well advanced. The red, green and gold lines of the metro are also now operating.
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