Show stopper

zoom

Dubailand CEO Mohammed Al Habbai.

Dubailand set a new precedent for the attractions industry at this year's Arabian Travel Market, with global partners of the highest repute supporting the premier destination.

Dubailand's presence at Arabian Travel Market (ATM), held from May 6-9 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, by far overshadowed its display at the Tourism Development Projects and Investment Market (TDIM) in January of this year.

At TDIM, the launch of Dreamworks was the big news for Dubailand. Coupled as it was with Universal Studios, there was little sign of the many other major projects that were clearly under wraps at the time.

ATM therefore set the destination in a whole new light, set off by its vast stand featuring a 29ft lego Burj Dubai to launch Legoland Dubailand.

However, there were also many other theme parks receiving their first public outing since being announced over the past few months: Six Flags Dubailand, The Little Big Club, Marvel Superheroes theme park and Freej Dubailand.

This meant that despite being somewhat hidden away in Sheikh Rashid Hall - and having to cope with a temporary evacuation on the last day of the show because of a small fire on a neighbouring stand - Dubailand made its presence known thanks to the life-sized characters from its theme parks wandering the show, from Barney to Spiderman to Shrek.

Dubailand CEO Mohammed Al Habbai said: "We needed to launch all of these and be represented at ATM so that was an opportunity for us [not to be missed]".

"At the same time we need to go and execute their intellectual property (IP)," continued Al Habbai.

Indeed, since announcing the Six Flags and Marvel theme parks just weeks ago, Tatweer has already approved conceptual master plans for both attractions.

"That's why Tatweer is always inventing the wheel - Dreamworks, Freej, Marvel for example - they've never had standalone parks," said Al Habbai.

Tatweer is already on site with Universal Studios Dubailand, and Al Habbai added that Six Flags is scheduled to go on site by the end of the year.

As well as being focused on construction, Al Habbai said Tatweer was also prioritising staff recruitment.

"For Dubailand as a whole by 2020 we should hire 250,000 staff - that will create jobs not only for Dubai and UAE, but for the whole region," he said.

He explained that Tatweer - which has 254 staff -had already started to develop Emirati workers because of the lack of theme park experience in the country.

"Tatweer is the operating company - we will operate all the parks except Legoland," said Al Habbai.

"Legoland will be operated by Merlin Entertainment Group. We need also to have an expert here," he continued.

"Once we have competition, that will bring our level of service higher. If we're going to run the entire destination, we would never achieve that in ourselves," admitted Al Habbai.

As well as the vast range of internationally-acclaimed attractions brands set for Dubailand, Al Habbai revealed that the destination would also feature a Snow Dome, previously believed to be on hold.

"There is gate levelling on site, it's already been started," he said.

However, the design is still being finalised because of the complexity of the project, which would be much larger than Ski Dubai, added Al Habbai.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (0 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.