With the number of big family fun parks rising in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), operators are hoping for a growing influx of visitors from China.
The beginning of November saw three major leisure parks, the Global Village, IMG World of Adventure and Dubai Parks and Resorts open, jumping on the bandwagon of rising tourist numbers from China to the Gulf Arab Emirate.
Siegfried Boerst, the general manager of Dubai's newest leisure park Legoland, a part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, said that they are working with local partners in China to promote Legoland through different media outlets.
Global Village, featuring 70 countries worldwide with dozens of country pavilions, attracted 5.3 million visitors last season, 75 percent UAE residents, the village's manager said, hoping for a rise in number of visits in the coming season.
IMG Worlds of Adventure, the biggest indoor leisure theme park in the world, features fun indoor attractions based on global comic brands with a total area of 140,000 square meters.
The park is extensively promoting their new family hotspot in China through online channels and Dubai's tourism offices in major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, said its CEO Lennard Otto.
Global Village CEO Ahmed Hussein Bin Essa said that they regard other leisure parks in Dubai as partners rather than rivals "to create the sheikhdom as a unique destination for family pleasure."
Figure shows that in 2015, over 450,000 Chinese tourists flocked to "fly-buy-Dubai," an increase of 29 percent year on year, the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) said.
The UAE government has granted visa-free travel to Chinese passport holders since Nov. 1, which DTCM said will boost Chinese tourism to the Gulf state.
In 2015, Dubai welcomed 14.2 million tourists, representing a 7.5 percent increase year on year, according to DTCM.
Dubai aims to welcome up to 25 million visitors in 2020 when the sheikhdom hosts the six-month World Expo.
