Theme park operator Merlin Entertainments, which owns Legoland and Madame Tussauds, said Saudi Arabia represents "tremendous" opportunities and that its Dubai operations are under study for further expansion as part of the company's global growth push.
Scott O’Neil, Merlin Entertainments' chief executive, told The National that Saudi Arabia is a "very interesting" market as the kingdom develops its tourism sector and that he aims to visit Riyadh in the next few months.
"We believe that there is tremendous opportunity there," Mr O’Neil said in an interview at Legoland Dubai.
"You have a government that wants to build, that wants to transition from oil into entertainment and a tourist economy, they have the will, they have the means, there seems to be a lot of incredible attractions going on there – and it's a reason that's really interesting to us," he said.
The Arab world's largest economy is developing non-oil sectors such as entertainment, culture and sports to create jobs, boost people's quality of life, lure high-skilled talent and attract tourists to the kingdom. The move is part of the Saudi Vision 2030 created in 2016 to reduce the country's dependence on oil, overhaul the economy, build new industries and invest in existing high-value sectors.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is implementing social reforms alongside the economic agenda to help modernise the kingdom, including holding music concerts, opening cinemas and allowing women to drive.
Saudi Entertainment Ventures (Seven), a wholly owned unit of the Public Investment Fund, said in November that it plans to invest 50 billion Saudi riyals ($13.3 billion) to develop 21 integrated entertainment destinations in 14 cities in the kingdom.
The new destinations will be developed in partnership with major international brands such as Clip ‘n Climb, Warner Bros Discovery, Mattel and toy giant Hasbro. In May, Seven and Hasbro said they are teaming up to launch the world’s first Transformers-themed indoor entertainment centres.
Qiddiya, the kingdom’s mega entertainment hub, is one of several giga-projects announced as part of 2030. The kingdom’s first water park and a $3.7 billion Six Flags Qiddiya are planned at the site, which will be home to the Falcon Flight, the tallest, longest and fastest roller coaster in the world.
Entertainment events attracted more than 120 million visitors from 2019 until the first quarter of 2023, the country's General Entertainment Authority said in March.
Dubai expansion opportunities
Merlin Entertainments, which oversees Legoland Dubai, is also considering further growth in the emirate as part of big expansion plans worldwide including in the US, China and Australia, Mr O'Neil said.
"This is our highest-rated park in the world and that gives you a pretty good indication of what success might look like. This is a park we will invest more in," he said. "This region is still in the embryonic stages of an incredible run of growth and it's nice to be at the forefront of it."
The company is undertaking a "very intensive review" of finding gateway cities with the aim of having major entertainment clusters in the 10 most important cities in the world by 2030, he said.
Using central London as a model, whereby the London Eye is the anchor attraction and a cluster of other attractions are positioned around it, the company is surveying 20 cities including New York, Shanghai, Paris, Singapore, Amsterdam and Dubai to find anchor attractions and finalise a pick of 10 cities.
Dubai is an attractive candidate due to the tourist inflows, world-class attractions and public-private partnerships that ease doing business in the city, the executive said.
"This is a city that does everything big, everything is grand: it's the biggest, it's the best, it's the tallest, it's the most shiny and that bodes very well for our business and bodes very well for tourists. This is a place you want to come to: it's safe, it's clean, it's grand, I think there's an attraction at every turn," he said.
Dubai aims to exceed the pre-pandemic annual number of international visitors this year, after it recorded a 17 per cent increase in the tourist numbers in the first quarter of 2023, the emirate's tourism chief Issam Kazim said in May.
The emirate hosted 6.02 million overnight visitors in the January to April period, compared to 5.10 million tourists during the same period in 2022, according to the Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism. The figure climbed close to the 6.26 million visitors during the first four months of 2019, before the pandemic.
Merlin Entertainments plans to invest "billions of dollars" over the next five years to grow the number of attractions and expand its footprint globally, Mr O'Neil said.
The company has more than 140 attractions, 23 hotels and six holiday resorts in 25 countries, operating in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.
In 2022, Merlin Entertainments recorded 56.4 million visitors globally, accounting for £2 billion ($2.6 billion) in revenue. That compares with £1.3 billon in 2021 from 35.2 million visitors.
The company's revenue in 2022 exceeded pre-pandemic levels, however, the number of visitors remained below the 67 million people who flocked to its attractions in 2019.
Merlin Entertainments swung to a pre-tax profit of £136 million in 2022, after a loss of £94 million in 2021. This is amid a shift in consumer preferences for experiences, rather than goods, after the isolation during the pandemic, Mr O'Neil said.
The company's US market bounced back "almost instantaneously", the UK recovered about 80 per cent of its visitor numbers, while Asia recovered about 70 per cent of its volumes (mainly anchored by China), he said.
"The Chinese tourists are very influential in UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Australia, Korea and Japan, but we have not seen Chinese tourists travel outside of China other than to Thailand, where there's been a boost in Bangkok," he said.
"Overall, we're hoping to see Asia back close to 2019 levels in late 2024."
Merlin Entertainments, which was taken private by Blackstone, KIRKBI and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board in 2019, is among the companies seeking a slice of consumer spending at a time when families are under pressure from rising cost of living.
Mr O’Neil said families were visiting less often but spending more.
"Spending is up … people are picking fewer, better [activities] … they're doing that for additional days and/or more spend in the attraction. Our hotels in an off-peak time are doing very well right now," he said.
"Inflationary pressures are real," he said, referring to higher salaries due to government-imposed minimum wage levels and competition for workers during a labour shortage in 2022.
"There's been an easing of the labour shortage in 2023, so we've been able to ramp back up our level of staffing but it had put a lot of pressure on the business," Mr O'Neil said.
Designing and building attractions is also becoming more expensive, due to the higher prices of raw materials and commodities, which puts pressure on the company's contingency budget, he added.
Despite economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions, the global company will focus on "bringing more experiences to more people around the world", he said.
These pressures "certainly won't stop our growth, we have such an incredible growth opportunity ahead, we're just gonna have to work a bit harder and a bit smarter", the executive said.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT can help increase efficiency and capitalise on growth opportunities but without detracting from the "human touch" that defines family attractions, he said.
"I don't think there's a CEO in the world that's not contemplating how AI is going to influence their business and the world in general," Mr O'Neil said.
AI can help Merlin Entertainments in naming future rides, new markets to enter, media buying efforts and new attractions to drive visitation, he said.
Mr O'Neil, 53, who was appointed chief executive of the theme park operator in November 2022, was speaking in Dubai as part of a whirlwind tour of 90 of Merlin Entertainments' attractions around the world.
"We continue to like the tailwinds, the trends are in the right direction, there seems to be this flight to quality that seems to fit right into our hands and we're working very hard to grow ahead of this economy," Mr O'Neil said.
Merlin plans to open the first standalone Peppa Pig Theme Park in continental Europe, which is set to open at Legoland Deutschland in 2024.
Alongside this, North America's second Peppa Pig Theme Park, scheduled to open in Dallas in 2024, has broken ground.
Following the opening of the two parks, Merlin will operate eight Peppa Pig attractions globally, including three theme parks and five Midway Peppa Pig World of Play attractions across America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Developed in partnership with Hasbro, the parks are aimed at the growing preschool entertainment market, the company said.
"Our purpose is making memories and bringing happiness and spreading joy, and if we focus on our purpose and making this the greatest place to work in the world, then everything else takes care of itself," Mr O'Neil said.
Dubai World Cup Carnival Thursday race card
6.30pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes Group Three US$200,000 (Turf) 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,600m
7.40pm: UAE Oaks Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
8.15pm: Zabeel Mile Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,600m
8.50pm: Meydan Sprint Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,000m
9.25pm: Handicap $135,000 (D) 1,400m
10pm: Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,600m
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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RESULTS
Tottenham 1
Jan Vertonghen 13'
Norwich 1
Josip Drmic 78'
2-3 on penalties
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Scores
Rajasthan Royals 160-8 (20 ov)
Kolkata Knight Riders 163-3 (18.5 ov)
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
RESULTS
ATP China Open
G Dimitrov (BUL x3) bt R Bautista Agut (ESP x5)
7-6, 4-6, 6-2
R Nadal (ESP x1) bt J Isner (USA x6)
6-4, 7-6
WTA China Open
S Halep (ROU x2) bt D Kasatkina (RUS)
6-2, 6-1
J Ostapenko (LAT x9) bt S Cirstea (ROU)
6-4, 6-4
ATP Japan Open
D Schwartzman (ARG x8) bt S Johnson (USA)
6-0, 7-5
D Goffin (BEL x4) bt R Gasquet (FRA)
7-5, 6-2
M Cilic (CRO x1) bt R Harrison (USA)
6-2, 6-0
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Sunday's games
All times UAE:
Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace, 4pm
Manchester City v Arsenal, 6.15pm
Everton v Watford, 8.30pm
Chelsea v Manchester United, 8.30pm
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
UNSC Elections 2022-23
Seats open:
- Two for Africa Group
- One for Asia-Pacific Group (traditionally Arab state or Tunisia)
- One for Latin America and Caribbean Group
- One for Eastern Europe Group
Countries so far running:
THE SCORES
Ireland 125 all out
(20 overs; Stirling 72, Mustafa 4-18)
UAE 125 for 5
(17 overs, Mustafa 39, D’Silva 29, Usman 29)
UAE won by five wickets
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
(All games 4-3pm kick UAE time) Bayern Munich v Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg v Mainz , Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg, Union Berlin v RB Leipzig, Cologne v Schalke , Werder Bremen v Borussia Monchengladbach, Stuttgart v Arminia Bielefeld
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
More on Quran memorisation:
Find the right policy for you
Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.
Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.
If you want trip cancellation or curtailment, baggage loss or delay covered, you may need a higher-grade plan, says Ambareen Musa of Souqalmal.com. Decide how much coverage you need for emergency medical expenses or personal liability. Premium insurance packages give up to $1 million (Dh3.7m) in each category, Ms Musa adds.
Don’t wait for days to call your insurer if you need to make a claim. You may be required to notify them within 72 hours. Gather together all receipts, emails and reports to prove that you paid for something, that you didn’t use it and that you did not get reimbursed.
Finally, consider optional extras you may need, says Sarah Pickford of Travel Counsellors, such as a winter sports holiday. Also ensure all individuals can travel independently on that cover, she adds. And remember: “Cheap isn’t necessarily best.”
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
- Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
- Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2 (Benzema 13', Kroos 28')
Barcelona 1 (Mingueza 60')
Red card: Casemiro (Real Madrid)
