MARKET REPORT: MIDDLE EAST
adventure and activity-based attractions, began late last year with implementation scheduled to commence in Q2 or Q3 2021. The project will include a four-star hotel and a five-star hotel, as well as a yacht marina, an integrated residential neighbourhood, and educational, health, and entertainment facilities. As reported last year, disappointingly,
there have still been no further announcements since November 2017 on the Oman Botanic Garden that was designed by a team led by Grimshaw Architects for a 420 hectares site 35 km north of Muscat and the project must now be assumed to have been cancelled.
Summary The number of live leisure and entertainment projects across the GCC continues to surprise, though it’s clear that the full economic impact of the coronavirus crisis has yet to be realised in the region. While the scope and rate of progress of many of the projects described above may, therefore, still yet be materially impacted and projects even cancelled, there is a determination, optimism and underlying necessity to diversify the
Mall of Oman
region’s economies that hasn’t changed. The number of new mega-projects in the region that are still in the very early stages of development and the proposed scale of investment is impressive. The opportunities these are creating for the Middle East leisure & entertainment industry are huge. Also of note is the sheer number of new
leisure attractions that continue to open in the UAE even though, from a resource perspective, the focus in the UAE must be on delivering an amazing Expo 2021. No other country in the region comes even close to matching the variety and diversity of new attractions opening in the UAE. In Qatar, of course, the focus is on delivering all of the infrastructure required for FIFA 2022, which it is clearly well on track to do. The biggest trend in the region, however, as reported last year, continues to be the new, mega-city projects being developed by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman, of which leisure will clearly be a key component. That said, where Saudi Arabia really
stands out this year is for the progress its making on all of its mega-projects and the can-do attitude its fostering as it sets out to
build its own unique leisure and tourism strategy and offerings. As an example of the amazing process of change that’s underway in the Kingdom, this is the first year that cruise ship itineraries now include stops at Red Sea and Arabian Gulf terminals in KSA. The absence of any new leisure project
announcements throughout the whole region over the past 3 years in noteworthy but, overall, there is no doubt that based on the project pipeline across the region as a whole, despite the setbacks being suffered due the coronavirus pandemic, that the leisure & entertainment industry in the region is still one of the fastest growing in the world and promises to be for many years to come. Phil Taylor is the managing director of
Team Leisure Consulting (
www.team-
leisure.com), a specialist leisure-consulting firm that was founded in the UAE but is now based in France. 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 & Buyer’s Guide 2021/22
31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
