760 thousand visits in Q1 2019
Growth in international visitors; now representing 45% of visitor mix
Growth in Lapita™ Hotel occupancy to 72%
DXB Entertainments PJSC (DFM:DXBE) today announced that Dubai Parks and Resorts, the region’s largest integrated theme park destination, attracted 760 thousand visits during the first quarter of 2019 compared to 851 thousand visits for the first quarter of 2018. A decline, during the second full year of operations, is not unusual for a destination such as Dubai Parks and Resorts which benefited from high penetration of its resident market in 2018, boosted by the introduction of the destination’s first annual pass and competitive resident pricing.
Dubai Park and Resorts’ first hotel, the Lapita Hotel™, reported a healthy increase in average occupancy to 72% in Q1 2019, up from 62% reported in the same quarter last year.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, on 8 March 2019, Dubai Parks and Resorts held its first “Ladies’ Free Day Out” which attracted more than 53 thousand visits to the parks, setting a new record for daily visitation and welcoming many first-time visitors to the destination.
Mohamed Almulla, CEO and Managing Director, DXB Entertainments, said “The first quarter’s visitation figures are a reflection that our partnerships with market leading brands, such as Emirates and Dubai Airports are delivering results as we shift the emphasis of our business to international visitation.
“Our newly appointed Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Parker, will lead our efforts to grow international visitation which will in turn drive growth through a higher yielding visitor, spending more time at both our parks and at our hotels. We will have more than 1,300 hotel rooms available by 2020, as the Rove Hotel opens during 2019 and LEGOLAND Hotel opens in 2020. The Lapita Hotel’s occupancy rate of 72% for the quarter demonstrates that people are responding well to our existing hotel offering.
“Not unexpectedly, domestic visitation has reduced compared to last year, a common trend for any theme park business following its first full year of operations. Having established our domestic customer base we are going to reignite interest through promotions across the year, the first of which will be our “Amazing Emirati Day” to be held on 19 April. This will be a fantastic day targeted at families across the UAE and will coincide with a one-time Emirati Annual Pass offer”.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Abdulrahman Alsuwaidi, Investor Relations Manager, DXB Entertainments PJSC +97148200820 IR@dxbentertainments.com
Jon Earl, Managing Director, FTI Consulting +97144372104 jon.earl@fticonsulting.com
Anca Cighi, Senior Director, FTI Consulting +97144372111 anca.cighi@fticonsulting.com
DXB Entertainments PJSC
DXB Entertainments PJSC (previously Dubai Parks and Resorts PJSC) is a Dubai-based operator of leisure and entertainment destinations and experiences. The Company is traded on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) under the trading symbol “DXBE”. We bring together a diverse portfolio of world-class brands to offer entertainment in the areas of theme parks, family entertainment centres and retail and hospitality.
For more information, go to: www.dxbentertainments.com
