The global theme park market is being driven by the recovery in leisure spending, rise in international tourism, and growth of the middle-class population in emerging countries, the report said.
Indoor theme parks allow the operations to take place 365 days of the year irrespective of the weather conditions. They tone down the seasonality aspect which helps to achieve a peak output at maximum levels through-out the year. Outdoor parks have the disadvantage that they cannot control – the climate.
GCC is bracing itself for a surge in tourism as new projects and developments are being planned and in the execution phase to usher in more tourists than ever before. One of the examples includes Dubai’s much talked about theme park – IMG Worlds of Adventure. IMG Worlds of Adventure and Dubai Parks and Resorts, which opened last year in Dubai has plans to draw in millions of visitors in their first year of operations.
Several billion-dollar theme parks were launched in 2016 and a series of amusement destinations are slated to open doors for the theme park enthusiasts by 2018. Furthermore, there is an exponential growth experienced by indoor theme parks and FECs in the region due to the expansion plans of large malls in the Mena region.
UAE’s total amusement and entertainment market potential to reach 45 million visitors by 2021 as forecasted by PwC.
Looking at GCC and especially Dubai, the opportunity is clear with a plethora of attractions set to open in the coming period.
UAE has the best of both worlds, be it indoor or outdoor theme parks. The country is experiencing this exponential growth because of its quality infrastructure and growing tourism and retail industry sectors. Customers do visit the indoor theme parks more frequently as compared to the outdoor parks in this part of the region as the climate plays a deciding factor.
Several mega projects in the GCC region are in various phases of implementation and executions as various destinations are being aptly poised as leisure and entertainment destinations ahead of global mega events, particularly the World Expo 2020 in the UAE.
PR
19 June
