'No brand drives income like Disney': What Disneyland Abu Dhabi means for the UAE and Middle East

The National

11-05-2025

What happens when Disney targets not just a new city, but an entirely new region? This week, Disney announced its first new development in 15 years, with Disneyland Abu Dhabi set to become the company's seventh global destination and the first in the Middle East. With an estimated opening date in the early 2030s, the project is expected to boost tourism, create jobs and support local businesses. The news marked a strategic win for Disney – whose stock jumped about 11 per cent the next day – and a major moment for the UAE. 'Every major tourist destination on Earth would love to have a Disney theme park. With this announcement, Abu Dhabi joins a select club of global cities: Los Angeles, Orlando, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai. That's good company with which to be associated in the public eye,' says Robert Niles, founder and editor of ThemeParkInsider.com. 'Everyone wants Disney, because no brand drives traffic and income like Disney. Its theme parks lead the world in attendance by a wide margin, attracting more than 142 million visitors in 2023, according to the latest industry report.' Theme park experts Caroline Reid and Christian Sylt, who have covered the industry for more than 20 years, also believe Disney's arrival will significantly boost the UAE economy. "Disney theme parks have a proven track record of generating tremendous economic impact over lengthy periods of time," says Reid. "In ballpark terms, based on several other comparable resorts, we estimate that approximately Dh10 billion of added value to the UAE economy could be expected annually from the opening date." This boost comes at a time when tourism is already on the rise. According to UN Tourism, international tourist arrivals hit 1.4 billion around the world in 2024 — up 11 per cent from the year before and nearly back to pre-pandemic levels. The Middle East led the global rebound, with arrivals 32 per cent above 2019, making it the fastest-recovering region. In December, DCT Abu Dhabi revealed that local hotels hosted 4.8 million guests by October 2024 — a 26 per cent year-on-year rise in international visitors. At this year's Arabian Travel Market, developer Miral reported that Yas Island drew more than 38 million visits in 2024, a 10 per cent increase from the previous year. Hotel occupancy hit 82 per cent overall, peaking at 90 per cent in August — its best performance since 2019. The island is already home to several theme parks, including Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi, Ferrari World, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld. In 2024, Disney's Experiences segment – which includes all theme parks, resorts, cruise lines and vacation experiences – generated about $34 billion in revenue for the company, marking a five per cent increase from the previous year as theme park attendance and guest spending continued to rebound. But the impact of a new Disney park goes beyond just revenue. Stefan Zwanzger, founder of ThemeparX.com and ResortX.com, expects the project to have a far-reaching effect on the emirate. He has lived in the UAE on and off for a decade and has tracked theme park and resort developments globally since 2011. Zwanzger believes this project will reshape the way the world sees Abu Dhabi. 'When I was living in the UAE back in 2006, there were few people in countries afar who could find Abu Dhabi on a map,' he says. 'Now that has already changed a lot. But by 2032, I think it'll be hard to find anyone who hasn't heard of Abu Dhabi – and Disney will play a serious part in that.' Disney will bring the branding, licensing and creative vision, while Miral will fund the entire project and run day-to-day operations once the park opens. Niles notes that the Abu Dhabi project resembles Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened in 2005, as both are single-park resorts located near major international airports and built on islands. 'The big difference is that Disney built Hong Kong at a time when it was not investing in high-quality theme park experiences,' says Niles. 'That is a mistake that Disney has spent billions of dollars to fix. With a partner like Miral, that same mistake will not be repeated in Abu Dhabi. I expect to see a world-class, industry-standard experience from this park in its first year.' Disney's presence also tends to spark large-scale infrastructure investments, from improved transportation to new residential and commercial projects to meet growing demand. 'The business model that Disney is following in Abu Dhabi mirrors the relationship it established in the 1980s with Oriental Land Co in Tokyo, which owns and operates Tokyo Disney Resort under license and guidance from The Walt Disney Company, just as Miral will do with Disney Abu Dhabi,' says Niles. In 2023, Tokyo Disneyland welcomed 15.1 million visitors, making it the fourth-most visited theme park in the world, behind Disney's Magic Kingdom in Florida, the original Disneyland in California and Universal Studios Japan. Although the exact scale of Disneyland Abu Dhabi isn't yet known, Reid and Sylt estimate the project will create about 10,000 jobs to run the park and more than 20,000 during its construction. But the impact won't be limited to Abu Dhabi. "Dubai, in particular, is likely to benefit from this due to the number of existing world-renowned attractions there, its proximity to Abu Dhabi and the fact that it [currently] has more than four times more hotel rooms as Abu Dhabi," says Reid. "The more popular the Disney park is, the greater the likelihood that Abu Dhabi's hotels will sell out, which will increase the chance of visitors staying in Dubai and visiting the attractions there too." Disney's arrival will likely raise the stakes among the existing theme parks and attractions in the region, pushing competitors to enhance guest experiences and invest more to maintain visitor numbers. 'It's going to get very competitive for the other parks already operating in the UAE,' says Zwanzger. 'When kids have a choice on Saturday and Sunday – 'Where shall we go?' and they can choose between Warner [Bros World] and Ferrari World and all the other parks, I think 90 per cent of the kids will say Disneyland.' Disney's move could also influence how other popular entertainment giants approach the region. Reid, Sylt, Niles and Zwanzger all agree that Universal – home to franchises such as Harry Potter and Jurassic World – will eventually follow suit. Whether this means reviving the Universal Dubai project, abandoned in 2009 during the financial crisis, or launching a new one in Riyadh or Jeddah, Zwanzger says, with '100 per cent certainty,' that it will happen. 'Universal Studios will never allow Disney to be the only one of the two in the Middle East," says Zwanzger. "They have a London resort coming – they're going to be busy now – but the next Universal Studios park will be a Middle Eastern one.' Sylt adds: "With Warner Bros World and Disney on Yas Island, Universal isn't going to appear there. It's hard to imagine Saudi Arabia not being interested in attracting Universal now that it can't get a Disney park." He says that although the kingdom is expected to open a Six Flags theme park with the fastest, longest and tallest rollercoaster later this year, "even that can't compare with Disney". Universal is rumoured to be developing a theme park in Delhi, India, according to Sylt . "If that is true, we suspect the investment in it will be increased in light of the recent Disney news," he adds. Regardless of what competitors may do, with this Disney deal, Abu Dhabi has already put itself ahead of the curve. "Yas Island already has established itself as a destination of choice in global tourism, helped by the Formula One Grand Prix and award-winning theme parks," says Niles. "But Disney will take Yas to an even higher level of popularity, elevating the entire Abu Dhabi market as well."