Wednesday, Jul 27, 2016

Dubai: The UAE is expected to account for 90 per cent of the leisure tourism market in the Middle East by 2020, according to a report published on Wednesday by Team Leisure, a Dubai-based consultancy specialised in the leisure industry.

The UAE will see the opening of up to 15 leisure attractions in 2016, said Phil Taylor, director at Team Leisure.

“The UAE is just about to take a huge step on to the world leisure stage with some 10 — 15 major leisure attractions due to open in 2016 and many more in the pipeline. This is the next big step in the UAE’s tourism strategy and the single biggest driver of growth in the hotel market for the next 5 years,” he said.

The attractions scheduled to open in the country in 2016 include IMG Worlds of Adventure (August 15) in Dubai, which will have 20 rides and attractions; Dubai Parks and Resorts (October) featuring Motion Gate, Bollywood and Legoland; the Louvre Abu Dhabi; Warner Bros World in Abu Dhabi (2018), and safari parks in both Dubai and Al Ain, among others.

“The Gold Coast in Australia, Singapore, and Orlando in Florida are all successful leisure and tourism stories that are 50 years or more in the making. Yet the stories are quite varied, as is the nature of their success. The individual destinations offer lessons the UAE can benefit from and allow us to evaluate the chances of success of the UAE’s leisure strategy,” Taylor said.

Tourism initiatives

“If the UAE can achieve the same quality and success with its leisure attractions that define all of the tourism initiatives that have got it to where it is today, then there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it can succeed in the next major step in its tourism strategy,” he added.

Amusement parks are expected to help attract more tourists to Dubai, which aims to welcome 20 million visitors per year by 2020.

IMG Worlds of Adventure is anticipated to attract 4.5 million visitors during the first year of operations and more than 30,000 per day, while Dubai Parks and Resorts is expected to welcome 6.7 million people during its first full year of operation.

Team Leisure will host a presentation called “UAE theme park tourism: success factor insights from Gold Coast, Singapore, Orlando” at the Vision Conference, part of The Leisure Show, which will take place between September 17 and 19 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The Leisure Show, which is organised by dmg events, is a supply, knowledge and networking event focusing on the leisure industry.

Staff Report

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