New theme parks promote outdoor living

Underscoring the heightened demand for this industry with the support of RTA (Roads & Transport Authority of Dubai), is the ongoing Garden and Landscaping Middle East exhibition, currently taking place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre till May 27th.

'Current estimates put the region's attractions, entertainment, and leisure segment at Dhs36bn ($10bn), with yearly growth at 20-25%,' said Mr. Eckhard Pruy, CEO of Epoc Messe Frankfurt GmbH. 'The annual growth rate for the amusement sector in Middle East, Europe and Africa region is slated to be over 5% to 2011, with much of that growth predicted to come from the Middle East.'

This massive spending on theme parks would boost demand for gardening equipment and products, as well as services of landscaping design companies, and landscaped artists is set to dramatically increase over the years in the Middle East, as the planned international franchises of theme parks come on stream.

Upcoming attractions in the region include Dubailand, Restless Planet and Universal Studios Dubailand, Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, Entertainment City in Qatar, Aquaventure Waterpark at Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, the Warner Bros-themed park in Abu Dhabi, the Marvel Entertainment Theme Park in Dubai, the WOW RAK theme park complex in Ras Al Khaimah, and the Paramount Pictures-branded theme park in Dubai.

Dubailand, a $64bn tourism, leisure and entertainment project being built in the emirate, announced that it would be the location at new DreamWorks Animation theme park, part of a strategic alliance with the US studio behind the hit box-office animated movie Shrek.

The construction of the theme parks will be undertaken in phases.

The preliminary design work and site planning is underway, and the first phase is expected to open in 2012.

'Garden and Landscaping Middle East has registered a strong year on year growth of 60 per cent,' said Gavin A. Morlini, Senior Show Manager. 'Our show is the largest dedicated trade event for landscaping architecture, garden artwork and outdoor living in the Middle East.'

Garden and Landscaping Middle East in 2008 is heralded as the most reputed platform for sourcing, networking and gathering the most up-to-date happenings in the landscaping design and outdoor living industry.

The Garden and Landscaping Middle East exhibition will run in conjunction with four other shows; the Hardware and Tools, ISH Kitchen and Bathroom show, the Light Middle East exhibition, and International CES/hometech Middle East.

More than 18,000 visitors are expected to visit the five shows over the three days.