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IMG Worlds of Adventure to break even in first year

Dubai - 140,000 sqm complex is now 96% complete

A $1 billion Dubai indoor theme park built by a local family conglomerate will break even in its first year of operation, the company said on Sunday, dismissing concerns that the city is headed for a glut of entertainment attractions.
IMG Worlds of Adventure, which owners Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group predict will be the world's largest destination of its kind, will open on August 15.
"We expect to break even in year one," said Mohamed Adnaan, IMG Group chief financial officer. "We see a lot of efficiencies in the way we designed this park from a costing standpoint, that's the reason we think we'll make money in year one."
The park is aiming to attract 4.5 million visitors in its first year of operation and will generate revenue of Dh1.5 billion ($408 million) to Dh1.7 billion, Adnaan said.
Visitor numbers are expected to increase by 6.5 per cent in the second year, he said.
Billed as the first mega themed entertainment park in Dubai, the 140,000 sqm (1.5 million sqft) complex is now 96 per cent complete.
It is part of the larger IMG-owned City of Arabia, a multi-billion-dollar retail, residential, commercial and entertainment complex, first announced in 2003 although construction of many of the projects has yet to start in earnest.
"Three, five, seven to 10 years you will see that coming out of the ground as well," said Adnaan.
IMG executives dismissed concerns of an oversupply of attractions, saying that multiple parks would help Dubai realise its ambition of becoming a family tourism destination.
"Dubai is moving into an Orlando 2.0 model where the market is untapped," said Lennard Francois Otto, chief executive of IMG Worlds of Adventures, referring to an improved and more advanced version of the original theme park concept seen in the US city which is home to more than a dozen such complexes. "Orlando has multiple parks flourishing in the same location."