IMG Worlds of Adventure, an international mega-themed leisure and entertainment destination wholly owned by the Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group (IMG Group), will open its doors to visitors on August 15 in Dubai, UAE.
Located in the heart of new Dubai and stretching across 1.5 million sq ft, IMG Worlds of Adventure will be the first multi-themed destination to open in the region, and will set Dubai on the map as an international family entertainment hot spot, a statement said.
Ilyas Galadari and Mustafa Galadari, executive co-chairmen and owners of the Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group, said: “We are very excited to announce our opening date and look forward to IMG Worlds of Adventure coming to life in August of this year. As the first international leisure and entertainment destination in Dubai, we have designed an entire world of entertainment for our guests. By offering a fully immersive indoor theme park experience in a temperature controlled environment this enables IMG Worlds of Adventure to be open all year round. With the capacity to welcome more than 30,000 people a day we anticipate 4.5 million guests in our first full year of operation, contributing to Dubai’s position as a leading tourism hub.”
IMG Worlds of Adventure is set to become a “must see” destination for international tourists, encouraging visitors to extend their length of stay in the Emirate. It will also pave the way for other complementary hospitality offers, the statement said.
IMG Worlds of Adventure will open in its entirety with the exception of the 12-screen Novo Cinema, which will open shortly thereafter. Tickets will be available from April 25 for online purchase on the website, www.IMGworlds.com, with adult ticket prices set at Dh300 and for children at Dh250 for an all-day adventure offering access to over 20 signature rides and attractions, including live shows and a 5D cinema experience, it said.
IMG Worlds of Adventure promises guests a remarkable immersive indoor theme park experience, bringing together the best international and local interactive entertainment and globally recognised characters and superheroes. There will be four unique worlds all under one roof, Cartoon Network and Marvel as well as the IMG Group original concept the Lost Valley-Dinosaur Adventure joined together by IMG Boulevard.
This $1-billion project is fully indoors and comprises four zones including 25 original retail concept stores, 28 immersive F&B outlets, over 1,600 employees and 4,500 parking spaces.
Reuters adds: The theme park will break even in its first year of operation, the company said, dismissing concerns that the city is headed for a glut of entertainment attractions.
"We expect to break even in year one," said Mohamed Adnaan, IMG Group chief financial officer. "We see a lot of efficiencies in the way we designed this park from a costing standpoint, that's the reason we think we'll make money in year one."
The park is aiming to attract 4.5 million visitors in its first year of operation and will generate revenue of Dh1.5 billion ($408 million) to Dh1.7 billion ($463 million), Adnaan said. Visitor numbers are expected to increase by 6.5 percent in the second year, he said.
The 140,000-sq-m complex, now 96 percent complete, had been scheduled to open in 2014 but was delayed mostly because of stricter building regulations introduced mid-construction, Adnaan said.
It is part of the larger IMG-owned City of Arabia, a multi-billion-dollar retail, residential, commercial and entertainment complex, first announced in 2003 although construction of many of the projects has yet to start in earnest.
"Three, five, seven to 10 years you will see that coming out of the ground as well," said Adnaan.
By the end of 2016, Worlds of Adventure will be joined by rival Dubai Parks and Resorts, the Dh10.5-billion Dubai government-backed park, while another family group, Al Ahli Holding, last year said it would open a Fox-branded theme park in 2020.
IMG executives dismissed concerns of an oversupply of attractions, saying that multiple parks would help Dubai realize its ambition of becoming a family tourism destination.
"Dubai is moving into an Orlando 2.0 model where the market is untapped," said Lennard Francois Otto, chief executive of IMG Worlds of Adventures, referring to an improved and more advanced version of the original theme park concept seen in the US city which is home to more than a dozen such complexes. "Orlando has multiple parks flourishing in the same location." - TradeArabia News Service
