Some of the best-known names in the FEC, theme parks and attractions industry in the Middle East feature in the short list of nominees released yesterday by MENALAC, the Middle East trade association, for its inaugural industry "Oscars."
The results will be announced at a gala dinner and awards night to be held next week (April 10) at The Ritz Carlton, Dubai. Tickets for the dinner are selling out fast, say the organisers, and applications should be sent to [email protected].
There are some surprises in the list as not all of the nominees are the venues of the region’s major multi-venue operators. Some of the smaller but more imaginative and creative entrepreneurs in the region have also been placed on the list, created by a select panel of independent industry specialists.
The nominees are: Best Innovation in Health and Safety: Majid Al Futtaim Leisure and Entertainment and Landmark Leisure. Best Sport Adventure-based Entertainment: Sky Zone Al Khobar and Xtreme Zone Deerfields Mall. Best CSR Programme: Adventureland Sharjah and Landmark Leisure.
Best Edutainment/Playscape Product: Kidzania, Dubai Mall; Orbi; Mattel Play Town; Orange Wheels; Kidzmondo Beirut. Best Employee Engagement Initiative: Ferrari World Abu Dhabi; IMG Worlds of Adventure; Landmark Leisure. Best Customer Loyalty Programme: Al Hokair Tistahel; Magic Planet Play Points; Fun City Shukran; Gold Rewards Aventureland.
Best New Leisure/Entertainment Concept: Al Hokair Time Rabwa; IMG Worlds of Adventure; Jumble; Xtremeland Mall of Qatar; Cosmocity Beirut Souks. Best Sales and Marketing Campaign: IMG Worlds of Adventure; Fun City Play Membership; Magic Planet 20 Schools in 20 Days; Snowycity Ice Age; Reel Cinemas Dynamic Banners.
Leisure and Entertainment Personality of the Year: Lennard Otto, IMG Worlds of Adventure; Al Othaim Fahad, Al Othaim Leisure and Tourism Company; Shifa Yusuf, Orange Wheels; Mishal Al Hokair, Al Hokair Group. Best Waterpark (indoor/outdoor): Future Kid Aquapark; Hawana Salalah Aquapark; Yas Waterworld.
Best Establishment Manager, Below 250k visitors/transactions: Al Othaim Tahar Driba, Snow City Riyadh; Dipayan Bhowmick, Fun City Mercato. Best Establishment Manager, Above 250k visitors/transactions: Al Othaim, Mustafa Al Sharqawi, Mall of Qatar; Firoz Ali Khan, Fun Works Yas Mall. Best Theme Park: Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi; IMG Worlds of Adventure.
MENALAC has also organised its first industry conference that will be held on Sunday, April 8, on the eve of the DEAL trade show at Dubai’s World Trade Centre. The final programme for the conference subjects has just been released by the organisation.
The WTC’s Onyx Room will be the setting for a day of intensive instructive sessions and workshops beginning at 10am with an overview of the MENA leisure and attractions industry. Phil Taylor of Team Leisure in the UAE will present performance, future projects and opportunities from all over the region.
He will be followed by The Human Factor – How Listing the Knowledge Curve Drives Success from Andreas Andersen, chairman of the IAAPA board and president of Liseberg Park in Sweden. After a break will come a session on Experience-Enhancing Technologies to Generate Secondary Revenues’ from Anthony Palermo, founder of Connect and Go in Canada.
Then the platform will be taken by Zlatimira Bancheva, sales director of Walltopia, Bulgaria, who will present an address on game-changing active entertainment. After lunch will come Alex Schrott, head of amusement parks, rides and structures at TUV, Germany, who will present a session on operations standards and documentation for annual inspection of attractions, playgrounds and soft play facilities. Then comes Engaging and Motivating your Team to deliver Excellence from Gavin Fisher, head of operations at Landmark Leisure, and Aditi Sharma, head of human resources at the same company.
After another break, the scene switches to the deployment of VR-AR attractions, their opportunities and pitfalls, from Devi Kolli, CEO at AI Solve, UK. The final session in the programme will come from Mark Titterton, sales director, Whitehouse Leisure, UK, on Effective Visual Merchandising - how to drive revenue from cranes, carnival and midway attractions.
