Making a splash

With more than 30 waterparks across the region and five more in the pipeline, the fight is on to be the biggest and best. Louise Birchall investigates how attractions can market, staff and adapt to meet emerging demands.

An ideal year-round climate and growing tourist numbers means that the Middle East and North Africa's potential as a hub for waterpark attractions is rapidly being recognised.

As competition increases, each new development breaks another record in the race to create a faster, larger, scarier and totally-unique water experience.

 

Ice Land Waterpark in Ras Al Khaimah is set to boast the world's largest man-made waterfall, the region's first waterpark attached to a mall is planned for Bahrain and Aquaventure at Atlantis, The Palm, is taking the fear factor to the extreme as thrill-seeking guests tunnel though shark-infested pools.

Major investments, daily sun and enthusiastic consumers are the key components in place to enable the region to make a splash in the worldwide waterpark industry. However, there are still various hurdles, which must be overcome on the way.

Marketing to the masses

While some GCC countries have become more westernised with economic developments over recent years, there is still a strong Muslim culture, which can clash with the waterpark concept.

"It's fundamental that you're sympathetic to the culture you are in," says Joe Gibbons, who has spent more than 27 years working in the attractions industry, across six countries and four continents.

"We're in the Middle East and I believe a conservative approach will definitely be the order of the day," says Gibbons.

There are a number of steps waterparks in the region can take towards creating a culturally-sensitive attraction, which will appeal to the whole family.

Paul Blunt, managing director of the Lost Paradise of Dilmun waterpark in Bahrain, says: "A lot of Muslim females will come along but they won't participate in any of the activities because they don't feel comfortable in normal swimwear."

Blunt admits that attracting women has been one of the most difficult tasks so far, but as the waterpark is focused on appealing to a regional audience, it's a top priority.

"There have been a few incidents where people have been upset as they feel it's inappropriate in this part of the world for people to be out in skimpy swimwear but we are mindful of that and we do ensure that people are modest," says Blunt.

"We‘ve introduced a few designs of swimwear, including a range of burqinis, which are sold through our retail outlet. The design gives women a lot more confidence to get in the pools and go on the slides."

Another trend which has proved to be a big hit in the region are ladies-only evenings. Jumeirah-owned Wild Wadi Water Park, in Dubai, markets  a weekly summer ‘Ladies' Night' event as being ‘run by women, for women'.
 

General manager of Wild Wadi Chris Perry says: "Obviously Muslim women don't feel comfortable swimming in front of a group of men. That's why we devised a plan to have Ladies' Night in the park."

"It took two years to recruit enough women to successfully pull-off those evenings but I have to say we've been running them for four years now and they've been very successful within the target groups.

"We see people coming from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as Abu Dhabi, so there are a lot of people that are attracted to this simply because there  is nothing else like it nearby."

 

Attracting women and more families is a common goal among the waterparks. "You can cut through all the demographics you want but a theme park has to appeal to families," says Gibbons.

Blunt says: "We have procedures in place that we don't allow too many groups of males to come in big parties, and our main aim is to establish ourselves as a family entertainment location."
 

"What we've done is introduce more corporate and family packages, and connections with hotels."

Perry also makes this point, adding: "We want to hopefully satisfy everybody but our main draw is families. That's who we try to attract the most.

"Within a family you could have very young children, teenagers and grandparents. We try to ensure that we're catering for everybody."

This is something that Ice Land Waterpark is also trying to achieve with the region's largest rain-dance pool. The shallow-water attraction will be enhanced with lighting effects and a DJ, encouraging up to 2000 people to dance in the rain.

Balwant Chawla, managing director of Polo RAK Amusements, the company developing Ice Land Waterpark says: "Children and grandparents can all dance together, there's no age limit and no smoking or drinking - it's just a really nice family attraction."

The Ice Land development will operate 365 days a year, like many waterparks in the region. This leads to other considerations such as best practice during the religious period of Ramadan.

Chawla says that the rain-dance pool is only a small part of the waterpark, so business should go on as usual. However, existing waterparks have noticed a slump in visitor numbers during the holy month. In order to accommodate this market, the Middle East and North African industries must be flexible to cultures and use effective targeting when marketing.

"While Ramadan has been slow, last year we noticed that more people go out in the evening so this year we've been open at night and we've had quite a few people come along," says Blunt.

"There are also lot of nationals and ex-pats who are likely to come over for the weekend," he adds. "Regional is a growing market for us so we've done a lot of marketing, outdoor advertising and campaigns specifically for the GCC."
 

Perry says: "We go directly to ladies' clubs, we use outdoor advertising and we're in the Arabic media - these account for around 25% to 30% of how we get the message across; the rest is word of mouth. When you create a successful evening, the word spreads very quickly but this can also work in reverse."

"You need to be attracting guests, delivering the service and getting them to be coming back with their friends for this to work," asserts Perry.

Meeting the skills demand

Gibbons suggests that the only way to deliver the service that makes people talk is to recruit the right staff. However, as the number of waterparks increases in the GCC area, so does the demand for skills and adequate staffing is becoming extremely challenging.

"The skills shortage is the most critical," says Gibbons. "That's a potential deal breaker in my opinion, one which is shared by most professionals."
 

"The branding is delivered by the staff so you need the availability and quality of workers. I may operate a park but it's the supervisors and co-ordinators who are in the park operating the equipment, delivering the food, the safety and first aid - these are the people you have to have."

Gibbons suggests that the traditional talent pools are drying up for a number of reasons, including growing economies in countries such as India, where staff have traditionally been sourced, combined with the increasing cost of living in the region.

For this reason management are searching further afield to Europe and China.

"There's always going to be the issue of being able to get people - the right people - then after you get them, being able to retain them," says Perry.

"We spend a lot of time and energy, not only in Wild Wadi but in Jumeirah, trying to attract people by being an employer of choice. We send our PR teams globally to find the right people."

To overcome potential issues with international staff, such as language barriers, it's standard for Wild Wadi employees to have at least six hours training each month, covering the English and Arabic languages, customer service and a range of other essential attributes.

Perry explains that when recruiting, skills are not always a major issue. These can be developed relatively easily through in-house training, which also applies to supervisors and managers.
 

The key factor when employing staff is to ensure that they have the right attitude.

"I can teach you anything," says Perry, "I can teach you to be a lifeguard or to be a cashier. I can teach you almost any job in the waterpark as long as you have got a good attitude."

He adds: "The unique thing about Wild Wadi is that our teams work with us; it may not be the career that they've selected for themselves long-term but after working here for six months they can decide to cross train and apply to move into a different business unit or department."

While it is viable for waterparks such as Wild Wadi to entice international employees with attractive career-progression packages across the brand, the less established names in the industry may find it more difficult to attract workers. Instead they have other techniques.

Since opening last year, The Lost Paradise of Dilmun has recruited more than 160 employees, of which approximately 40% are Bahrain nationals.
 

Blunt says: "Our staff are very important. We've got about 25 nationalities working for us but what we've primarily tried to do is employ as many Bahrainis as possible. We feel we've set a benchmark in doing this".

The Lost Paradise of Dilmun attracts local employees by offering housing, medical insurance and salaries, and providing a stable environment.

Blunt also emphasises the importance of adequate training and exemplary attitudes.

He says: "This is a new industry and people may not have the specific hospitality or leisure skills that are required to work efficiently in a waterpark."

"We've got to find the right people, with the right attitude and ambition to move forward in this new industry," he adds.

Looking to the future

If waterparks in the region can continue to juggle the operational basics with meeting growing staff demands, accommodating local culture and appealing to families, the waterpark industry looks set to take off in the Middle East and North Africa.

"This region is the place to be. We're growing, we're building new parks and attractions, we're trying new things, and it's all very exciting," says Gibbons.