Between three and 4.5 million square feet of space will be designated for entertainment development - mostly in the form of multiplex cinemas or family entertainment centres - in the Gulf region between now and 2010, according to official reports.
The Gulf Cooperation Council countries will see 45 million square feet of leasable retail space being developed and leased in that period, nearly all of it to retail and leisure combinations. Of this, up to 10 per cent will go in entertainment development. The leisure development represents an investment of between $300m and $450m in equipment.
The GCC countries comprise the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. Strong emerging markets such as Jordan, the Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Egypt are also seeing strong growth patterns in the same retail/entertainment combinations.
A PriceWaterhouseCoopers report recently stated that the revenue generated from the regional amusement industry exceeds $10bn per annum.
