Dubai Parks confirms October opening but some rides will be missing

Dubai Parks and Resorts has confirmed that its three theme park attraction will just about make its scheduled October opening date, but some rides may not be completed.

In its Q2 report the company said the site, which includes Hollywood, Bollywood and Legoland themed parks, would open on October 31.

Read: Legoland Dubai ride lineup revealed

“We currently have close to 16,500 workers on site putting the final touches to the project,” said CEO Raed Kajoor Al Nuaimi.

“As at the end of June, 93 per cent overall infrastructure construction was completed, with 84 per cent overall ride system and 80 per cent overall facilities construction complete. Show systems were 60 per cent completed, and we are within our targets for our opening in October this year.”

However, he said while a significant portion of Hollywood-themed Motiongate would open at the end of October, some of the attractions will be “ongoing to create the very best experience for guests”.

Read: Dubai Parks and Resorts – a new chapter begins

The company’s total assets stood at Dhs 11.6bn ($3.15bn) as of June 30, primarily comprising of Dhs 7.2bn ($1.96bn) in property, equipment and investment properties.

It projected Dhs 2.4bn ($653.4m) in revenue in 2017, its first full year of operations and Dhs 297m ($80.86m) for the final two months of 2016.

Al Nuaimi said the company had signed 24 tour operator cooperation agreements for joint marketing activities in Europe, India, Asia and the GCC and 30 DMC reseller agreements.

Further sales and marketing deals are also being finalised and the company has signed deals with Emirates for inflight promotions and flydubai for promotion and onboard sales.

The CEO also said the attraction’s central Riverland eating and dining district had signed 50 lease proposals covering more than 80 per cent of the 234,000 square feet of leasable space by the end of June.

“We are pleased to announce the addition of household names such as Leopolds of London and Le Pain Quotidien as well as new concepts such as Shrimpy, Wokchi and Haru to our tenant list,” he said.

A fourth theme park bearing the name of US operator Six Flags is also planned at the site after Dubai Parks raised Dhs 1.68bn from a rights issue earlier this year.

Read: Dubai Parks begins construction of Six Flags theme park