The Middle East’s most experienced operators of snow venues, Majid Al Futtaim Leisure and Entertainment, is to take its expertise into Asia.
MAF, a major developer and operator of shopping malls, retail and leisure outlets throughout the Middle East, was the pioneer of snow venues, with its Ski Dubai outlet in the Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, in 2005.
Now it will provide design and development consultancy services for the world’s largest indoor snow and ski resort at Wintastar Shanghai in China.
A Singapore-based real estate development and entertainment company, KOP, will lead the project, but the snow feature will be MAF’s first entry into the international market outside of its immediate Middle East region. Wintastar will also be the first indoor snow entertainment location in China.
Already operating a new Ski Egypt and with plans for Ski Saudi and a snow park in Oman, MAF is adding another snow attraction in the upcoming Reem Mall in the adjoining emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The alpine-themed Wintastar Shanghai will cover 90,000 sq. m. with three ski slopes providing differing degrees of challenge, including one of Olympic standard. There will also be 25 snow play features.
Commenting on the partnership, Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO at Majid Al Futtaim Ventures, said: "We are delighted to work with KOP Limited and provide our expertise in developing what will be one of the greatest indoor snow entertainment facilities in the world. This partnership underscores Majid Al Futtaim's extensive knowledge and experience in designing, developing and operating indoor snow entertainment facilities that speak to changing customer and lifestyle preferences. We are confident this represents the beginning of an extensive international footprint when it comes to indoor snow entertainment facilities."
The $1.2bn venue will be in the Purdong suburb of Shanghai and will hopefully open in 2022 to coincide with the Winter Olympics in Beijing. It is anticipated that it will attract 3.2m visitors annually. Around 12.1m Chinese people skied in 2017, less than 1% of the country’s population, but the Chinese Government wants to change this ahead of the Winter Olympics. In 2016 China’s National Development and Reform Commission revealed plans worth an estimated $200bn to build hundreds of new ski resorts ahead of the Olympics to booth the country’s medal hopes. According to the China Daily newspaper, as many as 800 new resorts could be open by 2022 and 650 skating rinks to bring a hoped-for 300 million Chinese into the realms of winter sports.
