Cirque du Soleil Dubai to open in 2010

Nakheel has signed an exclusive multi-million dollar 15-year deal with Cirque du Soleil to have a permanent venue and show at the heart of the Palm Jumeirah.

"Cirque du Soleil Dubai is expected to open by the first quarter 2010 with the premiere in December that year," a spokesman told Arabian Business. The venue will be the only permanent Cirque show outside the US, China, and Japan - "a major coup for Dubai," said Nakheel CEO Chris O'Donnell.

"We will have the Atlantis Hotel, Trump tower and now the Cirque du Soleil, three iconic buildings and entertainment venues on the Palm Jumeirah," O' Donnell added.

The undisclosed deal has been signed on a "partnership agreement", O'Donnell said, with profits split on a partnership basis, however the contract remains confidential, he added.

Nakheel will build an 1800-seat theatre venue for the permanent show by 2010 with the name and theme of the show not yet decided, however, a spokesman told Arabian Business that it "could well have a traditional theme".

Cirque du Soleil made its first appearance in Dubai at the beginning of this year from January 4 and ran an extended two-month long run of shows. O' Donnell added that the show was so successful that it had decided "well in advance" to bring a permanent show to the emirate.

"The permanent show in Las Vegas called ‘O' opened in 1997 and every show has played to full houses for ten years bringing in six million people. In fact, people even plan their holidays around the show and we think we can the same effect on Dubai," O'Donnell added.

Mario D'Amico, VP Global Marketing for Cirque du Soleil, said via video link that the deal had been on the cards for some time. "We have been watching the growth and dynamism of Dubai for four to five years and we have always said to ourselves how much we wanted a permanent show in a permanent location. Nakheel and Cirque."

Meanwhile Nakheel said it was preparing to announce further project details.

O'Donnell said that it would be announcing a Nakheel-led 20-island project which would include several hotels and exclusive properties and villas, an on land partnership project with a leading Indian hotelier as well as some extensive international market research on foreign investor perceptions of Dubai and whether its landmark projects would attract them to the emirate.

O'Donnell added: "In all we have 30 committed hotels on the Palm Jumeirah and around 180 non-committed hotels on the Palm Deira and Jebel Ali."