1) Qatar's population and tourism numbers continue to grow, increasing demand for recreational facilities. However, Qatar currently lacks diversity in entertainment options. 2) Qatar is taking steps to expand its leisure and entertainment offerings through new projects like Doha Festival City and Megapolis. These will provide facilities like Angry Birds theme parks, snow parks, and indoor family entertainment centers. 3) While shopping malls currently dominate Qatar's entertainment market, experts believe Qatar should develop more standalone attractions. However, high capital costs and climate make some projects less viable unless part of a mixed-use development.

2. 38 | The Edge
Boredom?
State of
Qatar’s diversified population continues to grow, but the country still lacks
sufficient recreational facilities - both for locals and for people who visit Qatar for
leisure. Syed Ameen Kader analyses the Qatari market, comparing it with its regional
neighbours, and concludes that Qatar’s approach to leisure and entertainment is
very much rooted in tradition and authenticity, balanced with modern convenience.
cover story | leisure & entertainment

3. The Edge | 39
W
ith the rapid economic diversification,
the needs and lifestyles of Qatar’s urban
populace have evolved to a point where
there is a compelling need to offer them different
types of entertainment and leisure facilities. But, one
gets a sense while talking to friends or colleagues, or
visiting online forums, that there is a lack of plurality of
options when it comes to spending one’s leisure time.
Qatar has some recreational facilities, but those
are mostly within shopping malls, which are, in industry
parlance called family entertainment centres (FEC).
Although the country has many other leisure facilities
ranging from water parks, traditional souqs, museums
and exhibitions, unspoiled deserts and beaches,
through to luxury hospitality and high-fashion
offerings, the question is whether those are enough
to meet the demands of the local population, let alone
the foreign travellers.
Michael Connors, associate director,
Faithful+Gould, says, “Currently there are a number
of facilities that fulfil the demand. However, the
population in Qatar is growing and quickly becoming
more diverse with a wide range of nationalities.”
He continues that with many population groups –
nationals and expatriates – having varying income
levels, different customs contributes to differing
views on how leisure time is spent. “In addition, the
local population in Qatar is increasingly becoming
more connected to global trends and reflecting these
trends. These factors create challenges in determining
how best to cater to the entertainment needs of all
going forward,” says Connors. He agrees that there
is a gap, and therefore opportunity for developers to
bring theme space offers to Qatar that are positioned
at accessible price points.
In fact, that trend has already started to emerge
“As a business model,
the developer needs
to consider whether
they will operate the
attraction themselves
or seek a tenant. If doing
it themselves, they then
need robust operations
to manage the attraction
properly.” – Michael
Connors, associate director,
Faithful+Gould.
Doha Festival City, scheduled to open in September, includes 38,000 square metres of space dedicated to entertainment, and will soon be home to Qatar’s first Snow Park,
in addition to the region’s first Angry Birds theme park, which will feature both indoor and outdoor attractions. (Image Doha Festival City)
leisure & entertainment | cover story

4. in the region. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) seems
to have taken a lead in this, but others such as Qatar,
SaudiArabia,BahrainandOmanarealsointheprocess
of doing so.
Mat Green, head of Research and Consulting, CBRE
Middle East, says, “Over the past decade, the Middle
East has seen the rise of multiple major leisure and
entertainment attractions, including Aquaventure
in Dubai and Yas Waterworld in Abu Dhabi. These
developments, along with planned museums and
themeparks,nowformanintegralpartofthecountry’s
(the UAE’s) tourism strategy, with countries such as
Qatar now also following suit.”
Initially, these attractions were developed as
anchor or ancillary components of the malls and
hotels. However, more recently, sizeable standalone
theme parks have been delivered in Abu Dhabi while
Dubai is currently constructing a theme park cluster,
the first phase of which is expected to open later this
year.
“The latest theme park announcement came
from Muscat/Barka, Oman, which intends to build
Oman’s first waterpark, while a second water park is
planned for Salalah in 2017. The water parks in Barka
and Salalah will accommodate 1200 and 500 daily
visitors respectively,” says Harmen De Jong, partner,
Development Consultancy & Research, Knight Frank.
Like a number of cities within the region, Doha
is also undergoing a transformation of its retail and
leisure markets amid an ongoing construction boom
as the government strives to modernise the city
in the build-up to the 2022 World Cup. However,
despite some obvious improvements, Green says,
Qatar’s recreational and leisure market remains
quite limited and is largely concentrated around its
shopping malls. But, he says, there are a number of
more exciting attractions set for delivery as part of the
future destination malls. “This includes the region’s
first Angry Birds theme park, which is set to open at
the upcoming Doha Festival City (DFC) mall. Other
announced projects for DFC include Juniverse, a kids
edutainment concept and a snow park,” adds Green.
Speaking to The Edge, Kareem Shamma, CEO, DFC,
agrees, “While Qatar does have a certain amount of
entertainment, leisure and gaming facilities, which
have been introduced relatively recently to the market
or indeed are still in the pipeline, they are simply not
sufficient to cater to the needs of the existing Doha
community or the projected increase in population.”
He says their research has highlighted the need for
a wider variety of entertainment options, catering to
the different age groups in Doha. “The entertainment
industry is showing significant growth, with a larger
variety of options being tailored to the very discerning
consumer base both in Qatar and the wider Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC),” Shamma adds.
That is what the DFC project looks to capitalise on
by including 38,000 square metres (sqm) of space
dedicated to entertainment. Scheduled to open in
September 2016, the project will feature both indoor
and outdoor attractions, and will soon be home to
Qatar’s first Snow Park.
Another standalone entertainment project
to make a debut in Doha this year is Megapolis,
which, according to its developer Palma Hospitality,
has been developed after taking into account the
Visitors and guests during the opening of Megapolis project in March this year. Located in the heart of Medina Centrale, The Pearl-
Qatar, the project spread over 6000 sqm, is one of the largest indoor family entertainment centres in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
(Image Megapolis)
cover story | leisure & entertainment
40 | The Edge

5. specific needs and lifestyles of Doha’s urban and
cosmopolitan populace.
Charbel Mhanna, general manager, Palma
Hospitality Group, says, “While Qatar has made great
strides across all industries in the past few years, there
remains a need for dedicated and comprehensive
family entertainment centres such as Megapolis that
fully cater to the needs of every age group and attract
repeat visits.”
Spread over a 6000 sqm area, the company
claims, Megapolis is one of the largest indoor family
entertainment centres in the GCC, with the capacity to
welcome up to 3000 guests at any given moment. The
project offers a wide selection of games, attractions
and activities including bowling, indoor golf, darts,
billiards, karaoke and flight simulators.
Climateandeconomicfactors
As a business model, what has so far worked for
developers is a combination of both retail and
entertainment: FECs. That is why we see an influx of
shopping malls all across the region. This is primarily
due to two reasons: one of course is the economic
viability; the other is the climatic condition. Summer
heat is a deterring factor for this region to develop
projects with large outdoor facilities. However, industry
experts suggest, there are ways to deal with that. In
fact, the summer season is enjoyed by many European
travellers, which can be capitalised on by project
owners.
Andrew Williamson, head of retail, JLL MENA,
says, “To combat the warm climate and provide
pleasant outdoor spaces, developers are providing
air-conditioned outdoor F&B seating areas and
incorporating shaded walkways in their developments.
This can be seen with Mall of the World by Dubai
Holding where temperature-controlled arcades are
being introduced.”
Talking about the climatic condition of Qatar,
Shamma of DFC agrees the country has at least eight
months of more enjoyable weather. To capitalise on
that, he says, “We are delivering unique indoor and
outdoor leisure offerings that have been specially
developed in, and for, Doha.”
Industry experts suggest that entertainment
venues in this region should have both indoor
and outdoor spaces to cater for seasonality and
nationalities. “Today the tourism industry requires
venues to be built to cater for global audiences
since the airline network is expanding rapidly and
reaching audiences worldwide. Entertainment
venues, in order to be economically viable,
need to be within a mixed use scheme, ideally
“While Qatar has made great strides across all industries in
the past few years, there remains a need for dedicated and
comprehensive family entertainment centres such as Megapolis
that fully cater to the needs of every age group and attract
repeat visits,” says Charbel Mhanna, general manager, Palma
Hospitality Group.
leisure & entertainment | cover story
The Edge | 41
Qatar’s
approach
to leisure and
entertainment is
very much rooted
in tradition and
authenticity,
balanced
with modern
convenience. This
ethos fits well with
the current trend
in the experienced
world traveller
demographic.

6. encompassing residential, retail and hospitality,”
says Filippo Sona, director, head of Hotels (MENA
region), Colliers International.
Besides the family entertainment centres, another
form of leisure facilities that has been very successful
in this region is water parks. Aqua Park Qatar is the first
such theme park to be built in Qatar, and is spread over
an area of 50,000 sqm.
Instead of water parks, De Jong of Knight Frank
suggests, developers could look into various forms
of ‘water play’ which require a much lower capital
investment and can be enjoyed throughout the year.
Besides Megapolis or Aqua Park Qatar, there are
not many standalone entertainment facilities in Qatar,
primarily due to the economic feasibility factors. Of
course, to make a decision on developing a standalone
leisure attraction requires deep market knowledge
and insight. The potential return on investment, and
the risk profile or sensitivity around that, are also some
of the key considerations that need to be made before
building any such development.
As a business model, Connors of Faithful+Gould
suggests, the developer needs to consider whether
they will operate the attraction themselves or seek a
tenant. “If doing it themselves, they then need robust
operations to manage the attraction properly to
continuallydelightandexceedcustomerexpectations.
The developer also needs to have a clear lifespan
defined for the attraction. They need to decide to exit
or refresh at the right time to avoid diminishing returns
from a declining asset,” he explains.
According to Green of CBRE, clustering of facilities,
such as including hotels and entertainment facilities
within destination malls, or combining water parks
and resort hotels, is a strategy that has a proven track
record in the region, with higher footfall and longer
dwell times often achieved as a result. “Hence, this
tends is to be the preferred strategy over developing
standalone facilities,” he suggests.
While the operation of a theme park can be
profitable, the high capital expenditure associated
with theme parks drive down investor returns.
However, theme parks do have a positive economic
impact and induce demand for other more profitable
2.93
millionTotal number of visitors to
Qatar in 2015.
sectors such as hospitality and retail. “A well-planned
theme park within a larger mixed-use master plan is
likely to yield sufficient returns predominantly driven
by hotel room nights and spending at retail and F&B
clusters,” says De Jong.
Takingadifferentapproach
Both the UAE and Qatar have set ambitious targets
to dramatically increase their visitor numbers over
the next five years. To achieve these goals, they are
developing new tourism drivers and identifying new
source markets. While the UAE is building a number of
theme parks and water parks in order to meet growing
demand from international visitors, Qatar has adopted
a different approach. Furthermore, while Qatar’s
population is similar to Dubai’s, it attracts less than
three million visitors per year, compared to Dubai’s 13
million plus.
“We sense that Qatar has forged its own path in
this regard and has carefully considered its position
“A well-planned theme park within a larger mixed-use master
plan is likely to yield sufficient returns, predominantly driven by
hotel room nights and spending at retail and F&B clusters,” says
Harmen De Jong, partner, Development Consultancy & Research,
Knight Frank.
Located next door to Megapolis is the first Middle East outlet
of Cool de Sac – a unique concept from the Palma Hospitality
Group and Aura Hospitality & Food Services that combines kids’
entertainment with eating out.
cover story | leisure & entertainment
42 | The Edge

7. whereas Dubai, for example, has developed something
for everyone; a mass-market destination. Qatar, on the
other hand, wants to carefully showcase itself to the
world in a way that perpetuates its people’s culture,
values and traditions,” explains Connors.
Qatar’s unique offering as a tourist destination
is rooted in its authentic cultural experiences,
family entertainment options, and business events
facilitation. A spokesperson from Qatar Tourism
Authority(QTA)saystheiraimistopositionQataronthe
map of world-class tourism destinations by promoting
the culture, values and traditions of its people. That
is why they are working hard to involve homegrown
talent in developing Qatar’s tourism sector, to ensure
that the country’s heritage and culture is reflected in
visitor experiences.
Last year, QTA partnered with Qatar Development
Bank and Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) to
create QBIC Tourism, a specialised business incubator
that enables local entrepreneurs to develop products
andservicesthatenhancetheQatartourismexperience.
QBIC Tourism officially launched in January 2016, and
hasalreadyincubatedninetourismstart-ups.
Qatar’s approach to leisure and entertainment
is very much rooted in tradition and authenticity,
balanced with modern convenience. This ethos fits
well with the current trend in the experienced world
traveller demographic who are commonly seeking
unique experiences, while also wanting luxury too.
Connors agrees Qatar should leverage on its
strengths. The country is already a mature destination
for business tourism, particularly in meetings,
incentives, conferencing, exhibitions (MICE), as well
as having a growing pedigree in hosting international
sporting events. “The average stay is relatively short
among these travellers, however. By better promoting
its existing leisure offerings among these groups,
stop-over durations after events will increase, building
momentum towards sustainable growth in leisure
tourist numbers,” he adds.
Connors says they expect to see developers
bringing more projects and programmes to market
that will have a bias towards heritage enhancement
and cultural instigation.
There is no doubt that Qatar would benefit
tremendously from creating its own localised strategy
and model for tourism growth, by taking into account
factors that will most significantly impact the future of
the entertainment and tourism sectors in the country.
While Qatar is actively directing its efforts on
further developing and strengthening its local tourism
sectors to move away from being hydrocarbon-based,
residentscanonlyhopethatsoonerorlatertheywillbe
able to beat their boredom.
Keytourism-related
projectsinQatar
Msheireb Museums
(Opened in 2015)
Anantara Banana Island
(Opened in 2015)
Megapolis
(Opened in 2016)
Doha Festival City
(Scheduled to open in
2016)
Hilton Salwa Beach Resort
(Scheduled to open in 2019)
Entertainment City, Lusail
leisure & entertainment | cover story
The Edge | 43