Making a splash

Themed Entertainment Association/Economics Research Associates' Attraction Attendance Report 2007 lists Wild Wadi Water Park in Dubai as the world's 1

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."
 

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"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.