Above, the Lego character President Business in a scene from The Lego Movie. AP Photo / Warner Bros
Above, the Lego character President Business in a scene from The Lego Movie. AP Photo / Warner Bros

Dubai Legoland theme park on track for 2016 opening



Dubai’s Legoland theme park is on track to be completed by 2016, said its operator, Merlin Entertainments.

The company, one of the world's largest theme park operators, is also working on Legoland projects in South Korea, the United States and China on the back of an increase in sales at its parks following the global success of The Lego Movie in the first half of the year.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation for six Legoland Parks in Europe, the US and Malaysia increased 31.7 per cent to £50 million (Dh309.6m) in the first half compared with £38m in the same period last year.

Under a management contract for Dubai’s Legoland, Merlin will receive management fees of US$3m to $4m a year from 2016 after the park’s opening. Between last year and 2015, it was expected to receive development fees of $2.5m annually.

Meraas Holding is the master developer of the project.

Meraas and the Texas-based Six Flags Entertainment in April announced a deal to open a leisure facility in Jebel Ali in 2017. Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari’s (IMG) Worlds of Adventure theme park is also shaping up in City of Arabia off Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road in Dubai and was scheduled to open this year.

“There were a number of theme parks planned [before the] global financial crisis, however, some of them turned out to be marketing gimmicks to sell residential property,” said Deepak Jain, JLL’s head of strategic consulting for the Middle East and North Africa. “We believe that theme parks or entertainment parks widen the tourism offering of Dubai and help increase the length of stay for tourists and attract families.”

In June, Merlin announced it would open a Legoland park in Nagoya, Japan, in 2017. The company estimated that Japan’s theme park market was about £4 billion, the world’s second largest.

Next year, Merlin will open the indoor Legoland Discovery Centre in Istanbul as well as facilities in Orlando, London and Osaka.

The group’s entertainment parks attracted 27.5 million visitors in the first six months, up by 6.6 per cent. Group net income was £29m in the first half, up from an £11m loss a year earlier.

“The first half performance was supported by the more favourable weather in Northern Europe and a particularly strong Legoland performance, which was fuelled partly by effective marketing around the internationally successful Lego movie,” said Nick Varney, Merlin’s chief executive.

The Lego Movie had grossed $400m around the world by the end of March and a sequel was the works, according to Warner Bro, the film’s distributor.

An exception to Merlin’s positive results was in Thailand, where political unrest in Bangkok affected sales at the Siam Ocean World aquarium and Madame Tussauds, the company said.

Merlin’s shares were trading 1.1 per cent lower in London at 347 pence early yesterday.

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Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

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Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi

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Jiu-jitsu calendar of events for 2017-2018:

August 5:

Round-1 of the President’s Cup in Al Ain.

August 11-13:

Asian Championship in Vietnam.

September 8-9:

Ajman International.

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Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Ashgabat.

September 22-24:

IJJF Balkan Junior Open, Montenegro.

September 23-24:

Grand Slam Los Angeles.

September 29:

Round-1 Mother of The Nation Cup.

October 13-14:

Al Ain U18 International.

September 20-21:

Al Ain International.

November 3:

Round-2 Mother of The National Cup.

November 4:

Round-2 President’s Cup.

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Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro.

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World Championship, Columbia.

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World Beach Championship, Columbia.

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Dubai International.

December 23:

Round-3 President’s Cup, Sharjah.

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Grand Slam Abu Dhabi.

January 26-27:

Fujairah International.

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Round-4 President’s Cup, Al Dhafra.

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Ras Al Khaimah International.

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The Challenge Championship.

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Grand Slam London.

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Final Round – Mother of The Nation.

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Final Round – President’s Cup.

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 1:39:46.713
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 00:00.908
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 00:12.462
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 00:12.885
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 00:13.276
6. Fernando Alonso, McLaren 01:11.223
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8. Sergio Perez, Force India 1 lap
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10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren 1 lap
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll, Williams 1 lap
15. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber 2 laps
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17r. Nico Huelkenberg, Renault 3 laps
r. Paul Di Resta, Williams 10 laps
r. Romain Grosjean, Haas 50 laps
r. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 70 laps

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
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Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

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● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine