Destination marketing Paramount

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It's show time: Metzger has unveiled plans to merge Bollywood with Hollywood in the UAE.

Darrell Metzger, CEO of Ruwaad Destinations, discusses his company's new partnership deal with Paramount and its plans to build a multi-purpose leisure destination in the UAE.

What attracted you to the deal with Paramount Licensing?

We have a long-term agreement with Paramount to expand in up-and-coming countries in the Asian region, Middle East and Africa, including South Africa, so that's what interested me - it's not a one off project.

We've announced that our first destination will be in the UAE.

Why are you starting in the UAE?

The strategy of our parent company Dubai 9 Group has been to start up a business in the UAE, become successful there, fairly dominant, associate with big name brand partners, and then begin expanding into other regions. I think they're in about 11 or 12 countries right now with their other businesses. Ruwaad is only a year old, but the parent company is almost 40 years old, so we're following the same strategy. We start here and then we spread out through the region.

What level of control do you have over the Paramount brand?

They're not financial investors, but what they are risking is their brand and they have given us the rights to use that brand.

It's a vote of confidence to have the trust of a global brand like Paramount. We're the keeper of that brand in this region and they trust us as the investor-developer.

Do you think this responsibility will cause any problems?

I've worked with brands all my life. Their intellectual property has to be protected here so they know what they're doing, they know how to protect their brand, and they know how to reach the market.

When I worked for Disney my job was to protect the Disney brand, and so I understand the rules of the game. There'll be a break-in period for our partnership, because they're not familiar with this region and we are. They are familiar with their product and we don't know how we can use it and to what extent yet. It's just the mechanics of getting the project off the ground; none of these things are obstacles.

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