Innovators of mall fun

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The entrance to Magic Planet, Mall of the Emirates.

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The bowling reception area is being moved closer to the lanes.

Magic Planet has set itself as the benchmark against which other family entertainment centres judge themselves. It aims to maintain this position with new games and a sports zone.

Magic Planet, Mall of the Emirates, part of Majid Al Futtaim Group (MAF), launched in November 2005.

Covering 8800m² of prime retail estate, it contains more than 1200 video machines and receives more than 2.5 million visitors a year.

Open every day of the year from 10am to 10pm from Sunday to Thursday and 10am to 12pm on Fridays and Saturdays, the aim of Magic Planet is to be something for everyone according to general manager of the Magic Planet brand, Silvio Liedtke.

"There is a 12-lane bowling alley, billiards room, redemption game area, rides, video game area and a child's soft play area downstairs," Liedtke explains.

"The games are operated by a magnetic swipe card system whereby a visitor purchases a card which stores the amount of credit bought," he adds.

To operate a game the card is swiped across a sensor and the amount is debited. Once the card has run out, top-ups can be purchased from numerous cashier stands.

With the redemption games, tickets can be won to exchange for prizes ranging from pencils to laptop computers.

Magic Planet uses 70 million tickets a year with a value of 10 fils (US $0.03) per ticket, meaning AED 7 million ($1.9 million) worth of prizes are won each year.

Mall of the Emirates receives 35 million visitors a year and 3-4% of these convert into a revenue transaction for Magic Planet, totaling one million transactions a year.

But rather than resting on its laurels Liedtke believes it is important to keep pushing the boundaries on what is possible.

"The company is willing to take risks to bring the latest experiences in gaming to the customer - a strategy that is built into its business plan," he explains.

An example of this strategy was the purchase of four Deal or No Deal machines manufactured by ICE, an interactive entertainment company.

Despite the Deal or no Deal television show not being aired in the Middle East, within two weeks Magic Planet had made its money back on the purchase.

Exclusive vision statement

"At Magic Planet we dare to dream big. Our vision is to always be innovators of fun," Liedtke explains. The Robo Coaster, pictured, is one of Magic Planet's indoor thrill rides.

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