The Middle East amusement parks market is expected to witness solid growth over the coming years, due to support from regional governments and increased tourism and investments by international players in the region.
The total number of tourists arriving in the UAE increased from 15.4 million during 2014 to 17.8 million visitors in 2016, representing an annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent during the same period, according to data released by Ken Research.
"UAE amusement parks are on the cutting edge of leveraging real-time information management technology to enhance the visitor experience," said Andrew Calthorpe, CEO at the amusement park consultancy, Condo Protego, which has worked closely with numerous amusement parks in the UAE over the past several years.
The report said: "The countries are shaping their events industry along with a favourable investment and business climate to attract more tourists into the country. Annual international events held in the region coupled with the increasing diversity of amusement parks have not only increased the number of tourists but have also enhanced the length of stay of tourist in the region. Increasing supply of hotel rooms have reduced room rates, which has also positively impacted the tourism sector in the region.”
The entertainment options are varied here with the climate becoming non-conducive to outdoor rides during a certain period of the year. During such phases, FECs and indoor amusement parks play a pivotal role in keeping the market going all year round. UAE will play a pivotal role in the amusement industry, according to experts, as its amusement park revenue growth is set to increase by 78 per cent to $837m by 2019. With its central global location and high-quality hospitality facilities, it is anticipated that UAE has tremendous potential to lead the race ahead of Orlando.
With UAE amusement parks dialling up the “smart” visitor experience, its amusement park visitor spend is set to grow six-fold from $105m in 2016 to $637m by 2020.
Other regional developments include those from Six Flags Entertainment, which plans to open three theme parks in Saudi Arabia at an investment of more than $1.5bn as part of its regional expansion plans, and a Kidzmondo amusement park which is set to open this year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
