While the GCC retail sector will reach Dh811 billion ($221 billion) in 2015, the amusement industry alone is set to cross Dh118 billion ($32 billion) in the next two years, said organisers of a major amusement and leisure show in Dubai, UAE.

The latest edition of the Dubai Entertainment Amusement and Leisure Show (DEAL 2015) will be held from April 14 to 16 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

“The GCC retail sector and particularly Dubai stands at a unique threshold with a combination of factors set to drive growth into the future. New retail space and entertainment centres are being developed across the region as families and increasing tourist traffic increasingly prefer to spend time in malls and indoor theme parks,” said Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, chairman of IEC, the organisers of DEAL 2015.

“Growing population and evolving lifestyles as well as rising disposable incomes and increasing market competitiveness in the region are revealing of a larger role for family entertainment.

“A key attraction and differentiator in the region’s increasingly competitive entertainment space in the region will be technology and innovation. DEAL 2015 has attracted leading innovators and technology providers in leisure and entertainment to Dubai from where they can address a wider market of over two billion people, and an ever-expanding domestic tourism market,” he added.

The Middle East will add one million sq m of retail space by 2017 and Dubai will lead this retail upsurge with the ‘Mall of the World’ development, set to be the world’s largest mall and capable of hosting 180 million visitors per year. The 418,000-sq-m Nakheel Mall opening in 2016 in Dubai will be another remarkable addition while Doha is on course to open the 400,000-sq-m Mall of Qatar in 2015 and the 250,000-sq-m Doha Festival City in 2016. Cairo will have a ‘super regional mall’ when the 162,500-sq-m Mall of Egypt opens in 2015.

With the region’s retailing witnessing unprecedented growth and entertainment areas emerging as an integral component of malls and parks DEAL 2015 has generated remarkable interest among  manufacturers, suppliers, buyers, technologists, professionals and investors in the amusement industry. Leading international exhibitors see the show as a remarkable opportunity to grow and expand in the fast-growing markets in around the Middle East.

“An extensive leisure component covering entertainment centres, theme parks and multiplex movie houses are a common factor in all the ongoing retail developments in the region,” said Sharif Rahman, CEO, IEC.

“Lifestyles, weather conditions, and the ‘fun for all’ concept successfully rolled out by leading retailers across the region have made Family Entertainment Centres (FEC) an inevitable element of any existing or upcoming mall. Dubai has shown the way in integrating malls with the metro thereby enhancing ease of access and attracting families and youngsters to retail and entertainment hubs.”

DEAL 2015 show will have exhibitors from countries diverse as Belgium, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, UK, France, Turkey, and USA, apart from several new countries that come to our show each year. Last year, the show witnessed a huge gathering of stakeholders within the amusement and entertainment sector with 32 new exhibitors and several new countries. – TradeArabia News Service