Simply Abu Dhabi XXXI

6 7 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I Future proofing Costing $1 billion to build, the entertainment enterprise is the result of a collaboration between Warner Bros. and Abu dhabi-based Miral Asset Management LLC. Its creators hope that Abu dhabi World will help Yas Island up its annual visitors from 25 million in 2015 to 30 million in 2018, as well as create more than 1,000 jobs. ‘China, India and Russia have been our biggest markets and there is strong growth by all these countries,’ says the chairman of Miral, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak. ‘We expect stronger growth to come from the UK, Germany and Saudi Arabia. Additions like the Warner Bros. Abu dhabi will just compound that growth.’ Al Mubarak says he expects the amusement park to ‘grow and grow’ as more characters and stories are added to the roster, while the chairman of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Kevin Tsujihara, says any idea that Western fictional characters might not translate to Middle East audiences is misplaced: ‘The messages of hope and goodness, and the villainy, aren’t specific to any country whatsoever and being part of this region just feels like a natural extension for these characters.’ This sentiment is clearly exemplified by the fact the UAE is home to many other one-of-a-kind theme parks, including Bollywood Parks, Legoland dubai and Motiongate dubai. In addition, in 2019, Six Flags is also set to open in dubai, which will be its first location outside of North America.