The region's leading leisure
and entertainment destination
Annual Report 2018
About Us
DXB Entertainments PJSC is a Dubai-based owner and manager 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.
DXB Entertainments owns Dubai Parks and Resorts, the region’s largest integrated theme park destination, with three theme parks and one water park, two hotels (LEGOLAND® Hotel under development), and one retail and dining facility, all spread over 30.6 million sq ft of land, with an estimated AED 12.2 billion in development costs.
Download full reportAt a Glance – Who we are
DXB Entertainments manages family-friendly leisure and entertainment assets, in association with worldclass IP partners and operators, across five locations in Dubai. With a diverse portfolio of 16 leisure and entertainment experiences, DXBE is the largest leisure and entertainment company in the region. Our attractions have been created to serve both UAE residents and inbound tourists, with a focus on those inbound markets with the shortest flight times to the UAE, such as the GCC and the Indian subcontinent.
Shareholder composition As at 31 December 2018
- Meraas Group 52%
- Qatar Holding 11%
- Kuwait Investment Authority 5%
- Institutional 13%
- Retail 19%
AED 5.4 billion financing
AED 4.2 billion syndicated financing facility in relation to the phase 1 development of DPR and AED 1.2 billion raised through the issuance of convertible bonds to our majority shareholder Meraas Group.
Overview of DXB Entertainments’ Assets
World-class leisure and entertainment experiences
1. MOTIONGATE™ Dubai
Largest Hollywood movie-themed park in the region, targeting all age groups and nationalities.
2. LEGOLAND® Dubai
Where LEGO® bricks come to life, the ultimate theme park for families with children aged 2-12, with more than 15,000 LEGO® models made from 60 million LEGO® bricks.
3. LEGOLAND® Water Park
The region’s only water park designed for families with children aged 2-12, with more than 20 LEGO® themed water slides and attractions.
4. Bollywood Parks™ Dubai
The world’s first Bollywood-themed park, focusing on action, dance, romance, and flavours based on some of the major Bollywood blockbusters.
5. LEGOLAND® Hotel
Built on 300,000 sq ft of land, this will be the first LEGOLAND® Hotel in the Middle East and DPR’s second hotel. Visitors will have easy access to LEGOLAND® Dubai and LEGOLAND® Water Park.
6. Lapita™ Hotel
Lapita™ Hotel, operated by the Marriott Group with 504 rooms, a Polynesianthemed family-friendly hotel.
7. Riverland™ Dubai
Riverland™ Dubai is a waterfront district at the heart of DPR. It is an unticketed retail, dining and entertainment destination.
8. Roxy Cinemas
Roxy Cinemas is a fresh cinematic experience, with theatres that allow patrons to enjoy the movie in a sophisticated environment that pays homage to the magic of the movies.
9. Hub Zero
Spread over two floors and 18,000 sq m, Hub Zero is an indoor video gaming zone which includes virtual reality shooting, virtual reality racing, timewarped arcade, and network games.
10. The Green Planet
Bio-dome housing a giant indoor ecosystem. Visitors can explore and interact with a whole new world of exotic flora and fauna in this fully immersive vertical tropical forest.
11. Splash Pad
Shaded and gated water recreation venue, with the perfect beach backdrop, offering various games and activities for toddlers and children.
12. Mattel Play Town
Indoor interactive games and play area for kids. Each play space is dedicated to education and the development of social skills.
13. The VOID
Gaming experience beyond virtual reality, combining physical set with real-time interactive effects by a US-based company, which brought its critically acclaimed, award-winning hyper-reality experience to Dubai.
* LEGOLAND® Hotel due to open in H1 2020. LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Brick and Knob configurations, and LEGOLAND are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2018 The LEGO Group. LEGOLAND is a Merlin Entertainments brand.
Key Milestones of 2018
Growing demand combined with cost efficiencies
Thea award
DreamWorks™ Animation Zone at MOTIONGATE™ Dubai received a prestigious award from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) for outstanding achievement.
Time Out Dubai Kids Awards
MOTIONGATE™ Dubai was awarded the best theme park in UAE and LEGOLAND® Water Park was awarded best water park in UAE, with LEGOLAND® Dubai highly commended at the 2018 Time Out Dubai Kids Awards.
Operating cost
AED 728m (for the year ended 31 December 2018)
- Salaries and other employee benefits 40%
- Sales and Marketing 14%
- Utilities 10%
- Repairs and
maintenance 8% - Supplies,
communication and IT 6% - Rent 5%
- Others 17%
CEO’s Statement
First full year of operations
Progress has been made in delivering visitation and occupancy growth, however international visitation continues to fall behind initial expectations and must ramp up to deliver on our target of EBITDA break-even.
2018 showed an upward trend, with visit numbers increasing 22 percent year on year, hotel occupancy reaching 60 percent, up from 35 percent in the prior year, and EBITDA losses reduced by 50 percent.
Visits ('000)
EBITDA loss (AED million)
Revenue (AED million)
CFO’s Statement
50 percent reduction in EBITDA losses
Cost-saving initiatives resulted in a significant reduction in year-on-year EBITDA losses. Implementation of our hotel strategy, revenue optimisation initiatives and tight control of our cost base will move us towards expected EBITDA break-even during the second half of 2020.
Cash balances
Total revenue (AED million)
Theme park revenue and per caps* (AED million, AED)
Hospitality revenue (AED million)
Retail revenue (AED million)
*Commencing 2018 for presentation purposes, sponsorship revenues have been excluded from theme park revenue.
Market Overview
Leveraging Dubai’s tourism vision
Benefiting from its world-class air transport infrastructure and its status as one of the safest countries in the world, Dubai was on track to be the fourth most visited city in the world in 2018.
Total inbound
tourists to Dubai
(Jan-Dec 2018)
15.92m
International passenger traffic
Dubai International Airport retained its title as the busiest international airport in the world for the fifth consecutive year with a total of 89.1 million passengers.
Fourth most visited city
Dubai was on track to be the fourth most visited city in the world in 2018 with a top-ranked spend by overnight international visitors of $30 billion.*
*Source: Mastercard Destination Cities Index
Visitors from top 10 source markets
Jan-Dec 2018 (‘000 visitors)
- India 2,032
- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 1,568
- UK 1,212
- China 857
- Oman 829
- Russia 678
- USA 656
- Germany 567
- Pakistan 513
- Philippines 387
Operational Review
Perfecting the guest experience
By understanding and tracking each step of the guest journey we ensure we are responsive to the needs of our customers, continuously improving our offering and delivering on our promise to offer best-in-class guest experiences. Essential to this process is listening to our employees, harnessing their knowledge and learnings, working together collaboratively to deliver on guest expectations – before, during and after their visit.
Ideas for guest experience
In 2018, almost 150 ideas to enhance guest experience were received from our employees, of which to date a number have been implemented with the remainder under evaluation.
Employee breakdown
(as at 31 December 2018)
- Theme parks 1,324
- Retail and hospitality 473
- Corporate and shared services 166
Emiratisation
Our Emiratisation initiatives resulted in an Emiratisation ratio of seven percent at year end.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Supporting our community
Our corporate social responsibility strategy is underpinned by our overarching values and ethos that builds outreach into our communities.
Strategy and Outlook
Delivering
international visitation
Our strategy focuses on delivering international visitation to DPR, targeting an international visitor mix of upwards of 60 percent. This is essential in order to reach our targeted EBITDA break-even during the second half of 2020. Our ongoing hotel development program, which will deliver over 1,300 rooms to the destination by 2020, is core to delivering our strategy and will be supported by our strategic partnerships with international brands and the marketing initiatives of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
