Dubai Parks & Resorts owner, DXB Entertainments has restructured its debt and is reducing visitor number targets in the light of poorer than anticipated attendance figures of 2.3 million visitors in 2017.
Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Almulla told Bloomberg that, “the projection of 6.7 million visitors for 2017 is not the base we are going forward with anymore. Such numbers are achievable, but not in the short term.”
He added that Dubai Parks & Resorts “was not fully operational for most of 2017. I think 2018 will be a true reflection of the performance of the organization.”
Positive trends for DXB Entertainment
DXB Entertainments reported revenue for 2017 of AED 552 million ($150 million) which fell well short of the full-year target of almost AED 2.447 billion ($666 million).
Poor attendance forced the company to cut costs and admission prices.
The company has restructured its 4.2 billion dirham ($1.14 billion) in debt and had received additional funding from majority shareholder, Meraas Holding which owns 52 percent of the company.
There are however signs of improvement. Fourth quarter visits were 795,746, up from 478,987 in the previous quarter. Mohamed Almulla went on to say that these figures “make us optimistic about our strategy to continue to drive footfall to Dubai Parks and Resorts.”
The mega theme park development currently comprises Bollywood Parks Dubai, LEGOLAND Dubai, LEGOLAND Water Park and Motiongate. The company is pressing ahead with the next phase of developments.
“We are going on with our plans for Six Flags and LegoLand Hotel. These are fully funded projects and their addition in end of 2019 will play a major role in attracting tourists to our parks.”
Table: DXB Entertainments PJSC – 2017 Full Year Audited Financial Results
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-26/legoland-dubai-owner-gets-shareholder-loan-delays-debt-payments
