Kahini Chakraborty – Mumbai
Yas Island, Abu Dhabi is going to open its third theme park related to cinema in February 2018, after witnessing the success of Ferarri World Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld. The third theme park is currently in the design stages and will be managed and operated by Farah Leisure, which manages and operates Yas Island. The company will also be appointing their marketing representative in the India market soon. Giving a perspective on the India market, Bruno P Wiley, director of sales, Farah Leisure informed, “India is a priority market and we receive about 30 per cent of our business from this market for Ferarri World. We are looking at increasing our international presence and have been getting FIT, families, MICE and leisure groups. We received more than three lakh travellers from the India market to Ferarri World Abu Dhabi so far.” Yas Island houses attractions like the Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Links Golf Course, du Forum, du Arena, O1NE Yas Island and Yas Beach.
Olivier Garaialde, vice president- theme parks, Farah Leisure said, “Travellers to Yas Island have been increasing continuously and we had double digit growth last year in Ferarri World even though we opened Yas Waterworld in 2013. Going forward we intend to keep developing and offering innovative new attractions to travellers in phases. We are going to open a new attraction in Ferarri World by this year and by next year we plan to open seven new attractions with three major rides that will compete with the Formule One ride that we have already. We are already working on developing new attractions in Yas Waterworld which might open in two years time. And because of the success that we are getting from Ferarri World Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld, we will also be developing a third and fourth theme park in Yas Island. In November 2014, we will be launching the second largest shopping mall in UAE at Yas Island. The world-renowned Louvre Museum will be opened at the Saadiyat Island in December 2015.”
Yas Island has over seven hotels ranging from the three-five-star categories. These hotels together have a capacity of over 2,000 rooms. Apart from working closely with its DMCs in Dubai, Farah Leisure is also working towards strengthening its relations with B2B travel agents and online travel agents in the India market. “We want to promote Yas Island as a multi destination experience and not just a one day excursion. Currently the length of stay among travellers is two nights but we want to increase it to three-four days this year,” added Garaialde.
Wiley also informedthat the Abu Dhabi government is investing into developing its various offerings to promote the destination in the India market. The government has also opened Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority in New Delhi for promotion of the destination. “Apart from this, the Abu Dhabi government has also developed two partnership programmes targeting FITs which is called Access Abu Dhabi and the other one targets the MICE segment wherein if there is a booking for large groups with a certain number of room nights, then the Abu Dhabi government provides subsidised rates for activities,” said Wiley.
