A staggering $1 trillion has been committed to leisure projects across the Middle East, according to a latest sudy.

Development of the “Leisure Landscape” is a critical part of a total travel and tourism investment of $3.63 trillion encompassing hotels, leisure projects, aviation developments, cruise lines, tourism promotion and supporting infrastructure, across the Middle East, according to the latest findings of a major region wide research programme.

The Middle East Leisure Landscape 2020 is the latest report from a groundbreaking research study by the think tank Fast Future and Global Futures and Foresight (GFF) on the Future of Travel and Tourism in the Middle East. The study covers 13 Middle Eastern countries for the period to 2020.

The findings of the study will be shared at a programme of Fast Future seminars to be run on January 20 and 21 on the Nakheel stand at the TDIM08 show at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the researchers said in a statement.

The study is sponsored by the Hotel Show, Siraj Capital, Nakheel, Silverjet and ASAE and the Center. Strategic partners on the study are the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), IMEX Frankfurt and Fusion Marketing Management, it added.

“The sheer scale of the spending on travel and tourism across the Middle East demands an equivalent level of investment in the supporting leisure landscape if the region is to succeed in attracting the visitor levels it is targeting. The research highlights that there is clearly the ambition, vision and funding in place to develop a range of world class leisure offerings across the region,” said Rohit Talwar the report’s co-author and CEO of Fast Future and GFF.

Fast Future conducted detailed research into the published plans, press announcements and general media coverage for 166 different projects and programmes across 13 countries - Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the UAE and Yemen.

The three largest spending locations identified were Dubai with $381.4 billion worth of projects either underway or planned, Saudi Arabia with initiatives valued at a total of $184.4  billion and Abu Dhabi at $131.3 billion in new projects.

At the macro level, the biggest individual developer is Tatweer with $170 billion of projects with Dubailand alone accounting for $110 billion of this. Aldar is the second highest with $71.1 billion worth of developments in the pipeline. Emaar is developing $16.5 billion of projects but if its stakes in joint ventures such as King Abdullah Economic City are considered, the total value of projects in which it is involved rises to $136.5 billion.

Of the $1.006 trillion worth of developments identified, $171.8 billion s been committed for pure leisure projects – covering developments such as museums and theme parks. A further $218.3 billion is being invested in development of leisure resorts. A total of $611.9 billion worth of mixed use initiatives were identified - covering projects such as residential or commercial developments with a large leisure component.

The largest individual projects identified included King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia valued at $120 billion, the $110 billion Dubailand themepark, Kuwait’s $86 billion City of Silk development and the $61 billion Arabian Canal development in Dubai.

“We are trying to build a clear and objective picture of how the region’s travel and tourism proposition will develop and how the leisure landscape will evolve within this overall picture. The greatest challenge is finding clear and consistent numbers on the investments – for example there is little data available from most developers on how the budgets split out across mixed use developments,” said Tim Hancock of Fast Future – the lead researcher and co-author of the report.

The study also highlights the scale of the challenge f