The Real Reason For Building Disneyland In Abu Dhabi

Disneyland Abu Dhabi is set to give Disney access to untapped potential

MSM

The upcoming Disneyland park in Abu Dhabi is expected to cast a powerful spell on the economy of the glitzy Middle Eastern state and it will also make Disney’s magic available to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to visit its parks.

It is no secret that Abu Dhabi is building theme parks to diversify its economy. Its fortune was built on fossil fuels but as its reserves are beginning to run out it has brought global theme park giants to its shores to drive tourism revenue. That’s far from the only magic touch they have.

Although Abu Dhabi and neighboring Dubai are seen as being playgrounds exclusively for the world’s wealthiest people, the vast majority of their residents are far from billionaires. There is good reason for this.

Developing a leisure sector to diversify a country’s economy takes more than the wave of a magic wand. In order to do this, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the five other states that comprise the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have built sprawling facilities and hired hundreds of thousands of people to work in them. They tend to come from nearby nations where they might not earn as much as they do in the UAE.

It explains why a staggering 88.5% of the 11.4 million residents of the UAE are expats according to Global Media Insight. The number of expats from the United States is reflected in the vast array of its stores and restaurants which have made their way to the UAE. They include everything from chains like Applebee’s, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and IHOP to fine dining outlets such as California’s Urth Caffé and Sarabeth’s which began life as a small bakery-kitchen on New York City’s Amsterdam Avenue in 1981.

Nevertheless, the number of U.S. expats in the UAE pales in comparison to the 5.9 million who come from India and Pakistan. Together they represent more than half of the UAE’s total population and many of them are responsible for building the spectacular towering structures scattered across the country’s landscape.

It explains why data from the California-based Economic Research Institute shows that the average annual salary in the UAE comes to $48,993 (AED179,949) compared to $66,991 in the U.S., proving that you don’t have to be a billionaire to live there.

The UAE has a wide catchment area to draw on as one-third of the world’s population is located within a four-hour flight of the country. It is also part of the largest global airline hub in the world, with 120 million passengers traveling through Abu Dhabi and Dubai each year. In order to welcome them as workers and tourists, the UAE has some of the friendliest visa regulations of any country.

As this author has reported, the UAE and the Middle East in general are home to many of the most passionate Disney fans worldwide. So much so that when Disney announced at the height of the pandemic that it would close almost all of its iconic stores to focus instead on online sales, it opened a landmark new outlet in Kuwait.

However, despite being fervent Disney fans, many residents of the UAE and the five nearby Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations aren’t able to visit its theme parks.

Although Disney has six resorts worldwide, its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Instagram account focuses on just two of them as it describes itself as “the official guide to information about the amazing experiences at Disneyland Paris, Disney Cruise Line and Walt Disney World.” That’s because Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World in Orlando have historically been the studio’s most popular outposts for travelers from the Middle East. However, in recent years, getting there has been far from child’s play.

When Disneyland Abu Dhabi was announced in May, Subair Thekepurathvalappil, senior manager at Wisefox Tourism, told the Khaleej Times newspaper that getting a visa to France, where the nearest Disneyland is currently located, can be difficult for many UAE residents. In contrast, not only does the UAE have a simpler tourist visa process, but it it is set to introduce a GCC Unified Visa which will enable travelers to visit Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain without needing additional paperwork.

“There’s already a lot of talk in the travel industry about Disneyland Abu Dhabi. We expect it to be a massive hit, especially once the unified GCC tourist visa comes into effect. It will be a must-visit for anyone coming to this region,” Subair explained. “Passports will no longer be needed for UAE families dreaming of Disney magic.”

The impact of this was laid bare in a separate report by the Khaleej Times in May which revealed that 23.7% of applications for visas to Europe’s Schengen area filed by UAE residents were rejected last year.

The dark clouds aren’t just hanging over Europe. Recent data from the National Travel and Tourism Office revealed that the number of overseas visitors to the U.S. in July fell 4.9% on the previous year, only reaching around 86.6% of the pre-pandemic level despite it being one of the busiest seasons of the year. It is the latest development in a months-long trend which also saw international arrivals fall 6.6% in June.

It follows a string of high-profile rejections to U.S. visa applications made by everyone from ambassadors to ordinary travelers. Indeed, in April an Indian man’s story went viral after he posted on Reddit that his visa for a two week vacation to visit Disney World in Orlando was rejected after an interview which lasted just 40 seconds.

In fact, a recent report by Gulf News revealed that India is one of the top ten Asian nations with the highest rejection rates for visas to the U.S. Other countries in the top ten include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and China which together represent a massive 74.3% of the UAE’s population.

Almost half of U.S. visa applications made from Bangladesh are rejected setting a high barrier for its residents to visit Disney’s stateside theme parks. Bangladeshis represent 7.38% of the UAE’s population which clearly illustrates the untapped potential for Disneyland Abu Dhabi. The more people who visit the park, the more money flows into its leisure sector. As Mohamed Al Zaabi, the trailblazing boss of Abu Dhabi’s theme park operator Miral, explained to this author in 2023, this strategy “is about diversification of Abu Dhabi’s economy.”

Miral isn’t stopping at Disney as it acknowledges that there are other parks in Orlando which locals would want to visit. SeaWorld is one and Miral ticked that off in 2023 when it opened by far the most advanced outpost of the marine life park.

Harry Potter is another. Attractions themed to the boy wizard are found in Universal Studios parks but soon Miral will be the only other operator with them when they open in Abu Dhabi as this report recently explained.

Abu Dhabi even recently debuted an exhibition of props from the Potter movies which resembles a scaled-down version of the popular behind the scenes tour in London. It’s not got the tour’s sweeping size but it’s enough to satiate locals as they wait for the Potter theme park attractions.

In contrast, when Disneyland Abu Dhabi swings open its doors it could be the Mouse’s biggest park as this report revealed. It is expected to be home to the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge land giving Abu Dhabi yet another draw from Orlando. The park may be years away from opening but the force is already strong in Abu Dhabi.