Abu Dhabi's Yas Island races to theme park attendance record

Warner Bros. World in Abu Dhabi has become the first theme park in the Middle East to appear on the Global Attractions Attendance report from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) after 1.8 million visitors streamed through its turnstiles last year.

It puts the movie-themed park on Yas Island on a list with theme park giants like Disney and Universal. Attendance at Warner Bros. World is surging and rose 6.1 per cent last year alone.

A total of 34 million visits were made to Yas Island as a whole last year, an increase of 38 per cent on 2022. It was the fruit of a carefully planned expansion strategy devised by Miral that started in 2010 with the opening of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi which accelerated in popularity thanks to a line-up of high-octane rides, including Formula Rossa – the world's fastest roller coaster.

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In 2013, it was joined by Yas Waterworld, a groundbreaking water park featuring a roller coaster which weaves between the slides. By the following year, Ferrari World's annual attendance had hit 1 million and Miral soon got another magic touch in 2018, with the opening of Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi which is widely seen as one of the world's most immersive theme parks.

Then, in May last year, the first international outpost of SeaWorld opened on Yas Island and attracted 1.4 million visitors in its first 12 months. But it doesn't stop there.

Next to Ferrari World is CLYMB, an activity centre with the world's tallest indoor artificial climbing wall and the largest indoor skydiving wind tunnel. Both CLYMB and Ferrari World are connected to the Yas Mall, which is the biggest in Abu Dhabi, with more than 370 shops and 68 restaurants. The island is also home to a 400-metre beach, 10 hotels, an 18,000-capacity arena, a marina, a Grand Prix race track, and the Yas Links Golf Course where a round of the PGA European Tour takes place.

The entire island spans 6,208 acres and the entertainment attractions on it are still growing. Miral earlier said the plan is for Yas Island to be a "comprehensive, immersive experience where we have something for everyone."

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