Sim Leisure Group is a leading designer, developer, operator and builder of theme parks, waterparks and other themed leisure attractions. The group has over 30 years of industry experience, whilst its subsidiaries have been operating successfully in GCC for almost 20 years. Already carrying out design work for global projects, the company is now planning representation in the US from January 2024.
The GCC-based subsidiaries (operating as Sim Leisure Creative) are managed by Wesley Rae as chief operating officer and Josie Booth as managing director. With more than 300 projects completed, Sim Leisure has contributed to the success of numerous worldwide projects. This includes aquariums, zoos, theme parks and family entertainment centres. It has a skilled crew of designers, builders, artists, sculptors, mural painters, and technicians.
The company has announced that it will be opening an office in the US, as it continues to expand its design and build offer. Ahead of this move, blooloop speaks to Josie Booth and Wesley Rae about the firm’s capabilities and experience. Together, they explain how its knowledge of the Middle East region makes it uniquely placed to assist US companies in breaking into this growing market.
Sim Leisure in the Middle East
Booth currently oversees Sim Leisure’s work in the Middle East and will soon return to her native US to manage the new office. Outlining her experience in the region and what brought her to the firm, she says:
“I’ve been in Dubai for almost 14 years, however joined Sim Leisure 10 years ago. Wes recruited me to join the team as a design manager for Sim Leisure. At that time, Sim Leisure was predominantly focused on construction. However, it was aiming to expand its design services. So, I was brought on board to manage it.
“Not long after starting, I was promoted to general manager of Sim Leisure Gulf.”
Rae adds: “I worked with Josie on an unrelated project, and I saw that she had a huge amount of talent that was being underutilised. I brought her on board to build the design side of the business and quickly realised that she was capable of far more.”
Rae himself has been with Sim Leisure since 2009. He is a chartered civil engineer and has previously worked for a number of large organisations gaining experience in delivering prestigious projects in the UK, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
“Working towards a corporate career, I thought my work life was mapped out,” he says. “Then, in the changing financial landscape of 2008, I took up an opportunity of a short-term consultancy to manage the construction of a waterpark in Bahrain for a guy called Sim. I developed a close working relationship with him, and we went on to open a new business in the UAE.
“The next few years, after joining the company, were some of the most fulfilling of my career.”
Technical know-how meets operational knowledge
Outlining the company structure and its expansion into the design world, Booth says:
“Sim Leisure Group includes Escape and Kids Edutainment; the owners and operators of various theme parks including ESCAPE Waterplay, ESCAPE Adventure Play and Kidzania Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. In this region, we focus on the design, fabrication and construction of theme parks, waterparks and FECs.”
This is, she says, what makes the company unique, with its technical knowledge added to its operational knowledge:
“This translates into the way we undertake our technical design, utilising our strengths as a contractor. Typically, theming companies start out as design firms. They then move into fabrication, as a desire to build what they’ve designed. However, we started in operations, then fabrication and construction of the projects. Soon, we became specialists in designing the elements and the theming, using the latest technologies.”
She adds:
“We’re also unique in terms of our senior management since we’ve been with the company so long, and we’re all so passionate about the business. We take pride in what we do. That means we ensure our clients are getting what they paid for, and that every single project we complete is finished to the satisfaction of our clients. Almost all of our business comes from repeat business or word of mouth.”
“During construction, you’ll see the leadership on site every day, if necessary,” says Rae. “We’re not afraid to get our sleeves rolled up, particularly when issues arise which need to be resolved. We jump straight in, and we sort it out; we don’t let things fail under our watch.”
Bringing the industry up to date
That passion and drive are also paired with Sim Leisure’s industry-leading experience:
“I don’t know of any other company that has the level of construction experience that we have, encompassing the technical 3D modelling and digital design aspects as we do,” says Booth. “There are numerous companies out there who produce great concept designs, and while we are capable of conceptual design we want to focus more on the technical design.”
Sim Leisure has rationalised theming design to be integrated with other disciplines. The theming industry, it says, has lagged behind other design and construction disciplines by still being reliant on analogue-style designs. This leaves details up to interpretation causing coordination disputes, cost control issues and scope gaps. Sim Leisure has developed fully digitised design services which integrate with other disciplines.
“Our industry is still being held back by analogue designs, hand sketches and dated software approaches,” explains Rae. “We’ve bucked that trend over the last two years. In fact, some of the projects that we’re designing in Saudi at the moment are fully automated in BIM. We can do that without losing any of the creative input.”
“A good example of that is the Qiddiya waterpark that’s being built at the moment,” says Booth. “We were the theming consultant on that project, encompassing the entire theming design. This included the iconic camel rock with its monolithic carved features. The initial concept design was completed by Falcon’s Creative Group, with Sim Leisure taking it into the further design stages providing a fully detailed, buildable and digital design.”
Sim Leisure in the US
As the company establishes a presence in the US, it is looking forward to growing the design side of the business further, says Booth:
“We’ve produced some amazing design work over here in the Middle East which we will continue to do. But we also want to develop relationships with some of the specialist creative houses based out of the US. We’ve worked with a lot of these design firms in the past and certainly have relationships with them. However, by actually having representation on the ground we feel we can even better offer our services.”
“Our design studio is based here in Dubai. It possesses a huge amount of knowledge and experience, particularly in the Middle East market. With this move, we’re looking to grow our B2B relationships.”
Expertise on the ground
Expanding on this, Rae says:
“The creative companies doing the master planning and the initial concept design are coming out with some fantastic designs. But, particularly in Saudi Arabia, with the emergence of Saudi being such a huge market for our industry, clients want single points of contact. So, they are engaging creative companies to produce a master plan and concept design, whilst insisting that they must then undertake detailed design stages.”
“What we want to do, and what we are already doing, is link up with those companies in the US, and say, ‘Take everything under your remit, you focus on the master planning and the concept design. We will then be your partners to produce the schematic design and detail design underneath you, so you can offer the full scope for projects.’
“A lot of these companies in the US want to break into the Middle East market. And we want to support them on that journey. We’ve got experience in the Middle East; we know the building styles, we know the materials, and we know the limitations and the challenges.”
Cost consultancy and more
Sim Leisure can also offer cost and engineering consultancy services.
“It is vital for clients to be able to design to budget,” says Rae. “We understand the market rates, and we also know the preliminary and general costs, allowing us to present accurate budgetary reports. I think there is a real gap in the Middle East, in terms of consultants who can assist companies in the US to be able to fulfil their obligations to clients here.”
An example of this is the Adventure Park Dubai at the Dubai Hills Mall, which Sim Leisure designed and constructed:
“There was a constrained budget. It’s a 2000 square metre box and our client asked us to come up with a design for an adventure park that would generate a rapid ROI,” says Rae. “There is no magic formula, ROI is improved by low development cost and increased revenue.
“Our team designed a cost-effective build solution that still has all the ‘wow’ of a high-budget park. A careful selection of a combination of ‘off-the-shelf’ as well as customised attractions, set in a carefully themed environment, has created an amazing leisure offering. For this project, we focused on ease of operation, ease of maintenance and cost-effectiveness. We also targeted the demographic that we knew would be visiting that park.
“The result is great, and it is a runaway success for the client in terms of revenue. So, it’s giving the customers what they want, but more importantly to us, it’s giving the clients what they want, which is a phenomenal-looking park that is also profitable.”
“Since then, we’ve continued to be engaged by the client to design subsequent projects of the same nature due to its success,” adds Booth.
Meet Sim Leisure at IAAPA Expo 2023
The team will be exhibiting at IAAPA Expo 2023, where they will announce more about the company’s plans to have representation in the US.
“We’re going to be reconnecting with people that we’ve worked with in the past from the States and letting clients know about this new move,” says Booth. “It’s all about the connections for us; we’re looking forward to meeting people.”
Attendees will also be able to visit the Sim Leisure booth and meet the team, to find out more about the full range of services on offer.
IAAPA Expo 2023 takes place from 13 – 17 November, with the trade show floor opening on 14 November. Sim Leisure Group will be at booth #5736. To book a meeting with the team, please click here.
