Nickelodeon-themed hotel set for Dubai

BRAND BUILDING: MTV plans to open a Nick Hotel (pictured) in Dubai.

MTV plans to build a ‘Nick Hotel’ and theme parks in Dubai to capitalise on its Nickelodeon children’s channel and the emirate's booming tourism sector, Arabian Business can reveal.

“One of the destinations that we are looking at is the Middle East and more specifically the UAE,” Bhavneet Singh, managing director of MTV Networks International Emerging Markets, said in an interview.

MTVIN, owned by Viacom International, is planning to take its Nick Hotel franchise, managed by the Marriott Group, to a number of emerging markets.

“We are looking to roll out 20 Nick hotels by 2020 across the world,” said Singh.

Nick Hotels are themed hotels designed specifically for children, incorporating elements of the Nickelodeon brand, and have gained popularity among families in the US. Currently, the hotels only operate within the US.

The company launched its theme park in Dubai last year and its free-to-air channel - Nickelodeon Arabia - on Saturday, the hotel is only another step towards regional expansions.

“Everything is tailored for kids in the hotel. You’ll have rooms and beds tailored to kids, splash rides, slime, and Nick characters. It’s really a family destination. Wherever we’ve built the hotels the inflow of traffic has gone up tremendously, multiple folds,” said Singh.

Additionally, the company is planning to bring its indoor Nickelodeon theme parks to the UAE, replicating its rides in Mall of America in the US.

“We don’t want to replace Ski Dubai but there will be something bigger and better coming along,” said Singh.

Possible partners could include Majid Al Futtaim (MAF), developer of Mall of the Emirates and Dubai City Centre in Dubai, as well as Muscat City Centre in Oman.

“Mall of America is a huge shopping destination and the focal point of the mall is the Nickelodeon rides. That’s what we’ll do here in the UAE,” said Singh.

Currently, the Nickelodeon “recreation team” is undertaking market research to determine the possibilities of such a project.

After bringing its Arabic version of Nickelodeon all-kids channel to the region, Singh revealed plans to launch other MTVIN free-to-air channels in the Middle East.

“Next year we will launch another channel. We hope to launch one channel every year,” he said

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