18 January 2017 By Joey Aguilar KidZania, an award-winning ‘edutainment’ concept set to open in Doha in the first quarter of 2018, has unveiled its longest aircraft in the region yesterday at Aspire Park. The Boeing 737-500 will form part of KidZania’s aviation section. Qatar Entertainment (Tasali), a joint venture of Aspire Zone Foundation (49%) and Sharaka Holdings (51%), holds the licence for KidZania Doha. “KidZania brings education and entertainment together to strategically teach children values through programmes prepared to deliver hands-on experience, which could not be easily replicated and absorbed in a traditional classroom,” Tasali board member Sheikh Nasser bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said at the launch yesterday. KidZania Doha, which is set to welcome more than 300,000 visitors annually, can house up to 1,000 children with approximately 250 employees at once. According to Kidzania Doha governor Ric Fernan, the edutainment facility allows children between the ages of four and 14 to role play with real-life brands, products, services and professions: from a firefighter to a pizza maker, and from a radio personality to an airline pilot, among others. “Here, they will be able to make 21st century career choices in a safe and imaginative environment,” he said. KidZania Doha will be located in a 5,500sq m area at Aspire Park with 42 branded establishments and more than 60 interactive role playing activities. Children will also have the chance to experience flying the Airbus A380 aircraft with access to six state-of-the-art simulators. They can also role play as cabin crews, learning how to ensure the well-being of their passengers onboard. Fernan said KidZania teaches children core values, including self-reliance, team work, honesty, integrity and giving back to society. Designed to replicate a city that is built for children, complete with buildings, streets, vehicles and a functioning economy, KidZania also aims to empower children in each activity by helping them understand how society functions. Children can learn how to finance, work with a team, taking on a profession and how to be independent, which are all real-life skills. Since it opened in 1999, KidZania now has 24 locations in 19 countries and is rapidly growing globally. © Gulf Times 2017
