This morning saw the opening of the Dubai Entertainment Amusement and Leisure Show (DEAL) for a three-day run at the Dubai World Trade Centre against a background of continued frenetic development for family entertainment centres in the region.
With six major theme parks opening in Dubai before the end of this decade, the UAE city is at the forefront of the region’s amusement development, even though the major population centre is in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Around 5,000 professionals from the industry in the Middle East were expected to converge on the emirate for the show, this year at its largest, increasing floor space again on its 20 per cent improvement last year. Around 300 companies were scheduled to have exhibits at the event, hoping for a share of the expected US$300m contracts to be awarded this year.
The largest exhibitor is again Amusement Services International, the local machine and rides distributor, run by Prakash Vivekanand, with a record-sized display covering 750sq.m. But other very significant exhibitors will be at the show, including another local company, Warehouse of Games, plus most of the major international manufacturers of games and rides.
Pictured - His Excellency Hassain Nasser Lootah, director general of the Dubai municipality, visits the ICE booth to see the new Kung Fu Panda game with its Arabic play instructions, demonstrated by ICE’s Gene Brogowski.
A full report on the show will appear in the next issue of InterGame.
