Ending 2016 on a high note!

Dubai is set to secure a new market — the family entertainment segment — as it will be the first in the GCC to become a theme park destination. The last quarter of the year was very exciting as they opened five of the most important entertainment parks; four in Dubai Parks; Legoland, Riverland, Bollywood Parks and MOTIONGATE, and IMG Worlds. Bollywood Parks is poised to be a major crowd-puller, as the Indian film industry continues to fascinate people around the world.

Dubai Parks and Resorts’ projected revenue in the first full year of operation is estimated at AED2.4 billion. As the only theme park destination in the GCC, Dubai once again aims to chart its roadmap to success. Another highlight this year was the opening of the Dubai Opera with a clear vision of attracting a niche segment. The first phase of the Dubai Canal project is another addition which will connect the new to the old, steadily pushing the emirate towards its vision to attract 20 million visitors by 2020.

Sharjah enjoyed a very fruitful year with the travel sector generating AED497 million in revenue. Hotels and hotel apartments across Sharjah welcomed over 1.3 million guests during January-September, 2016, who spent 2,943,106 nights in the emirate – a 19 per cent increase from 2015.

Technology is the way forward as we close the year with the UAE revolutionising transportation through its latest high speed transport system ‘Hyperloop’, hence reducing travel time between all the emirates.

Economic downturns, terror activities, Brexit, currency demonetisation in India and continuous instability in some parts of the world have acted as a deterrent to the tourism industry on the whole. Hopefully, the New Year 2017 will bring good cheer for the industry as these new projects start taking shape.