Dubai challenges Disney with giant theme park
$5 billion project will be tourist magnet
Emirate spends big to convince people to take vacations at home, not abroad
DUBAI: Dubai is aspiring to be a major presence in entertainment parks through a $5 billion investment. It is creating “Dubailand: _ a comprehensive tourism, leisure and entertainment city.
According to entertainment industry analysts, Dubai’s ambitious plans will extend considerably beyond those of Disney, which operates Disney World and Disney Land in the United States, and Euro-Disney in France.
“Feasible? Yes, of course, why not?” said Sunil Bhatia, who is the managing director of E4 Entertainment.
Dubailand will open doors by 2006 and achieve critical mass by 2010, with anticipated daily traffic of 200,000 helping the emirate attract 15 million tourists annually.
Not one to let a good business opportunity go by _ and recognizing that tourism is the next best driver of growth _ Dubai is bidding to fill a vacancy in a region that stretches from Tanzania to Kazakhstan, from Egypt to the eastern boundaries of India _ a region in which, Dubai says, there is no world class comprehensive tourism, entertainment and leisure facility.
But Dubai is not looking for a regional tourism hub title. It aspires to be a world-class city in the company of New York, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore and the like.
Some 35 million tourists leave the region annually to travel abroad, with holidays spent mostly in family groups. The plan, though, is to keep them here at home via a world-class voyage of discovery, adventure, thrills and fun.
The Madrid-based World Tourism Organization also predicts 70 million tourists will visit the Middle East annually _ and spend millions. Thus, the aspiration to attract 15 million tourists by 2010 does not seem overambitious. Dubai currently has 5 million tourists a year.
The “Dubailand” project represents the emirate’s single biggest project _ highlighted by the presence of Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defense Minister General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum at the project’s launch on Tuesday.
“They are being modest when they say the Dubailand is the biggest in the region. It is the biggest all over the world. Disney World usually has entertainment, but Dubailand has everything _ from shopping to lifestyle and entertainment,” said Bhatia.
Dubailand is expected to attract visitors from all over the world at all times of the year and is part of the Dubai’s strategic plan to transform the emirate into an international tourism attraction. The government has begun work on the infrastructure. It will comprise 45 main projects and 200 sub-projects. Investments of $5 billion exclude the cost of the infrastructure, which is another $700 million. The government will finance the infrastructure. The private sector will build the projects.
“It is an initiative that strengthens the bond between the government and the private sector, in which the government works on developing the infrastructure and providing an environment that encourages the growth of business and gives a chance for the private sector to benefit from the large investment opportunities that it provides,” said Sheikh Mohammed.
The project comes after two years of intensive studies and research, and will give the tourism sector a thrust and will increase its contribution to the GDP from 12 percent to 20 percent.
The project is not being undertaken in isolation. Efforts to tap into global tourism flows began several years ago. Emirates Airlines continues to expand and has placed a $26 billion order for new aircraft. Dubai International Airport, which aims at welcoming more than 75 million travelers annually by increasing its capacity, is investing $4.5 billion.
“We are blessed geographically with a location that literary makes us the bridge between East and West and we are conveniently located and easily accessible. The UAE is already the trade and commercial hub to a region that includes the GCC, the Levant, Africa, Central Asia and the Subcontinent _ a region with over 1.5 billion people and a combined GDP in excess of $1.5 trillion,” said Sheikh Mohammed.
Dubailand will have an “adventure world,” as well as areas dedicated to sports, eco-tourism, leisure, shopping, a special “family city,” and the world’s biggest shopping mall.
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