Dubailand was announced on October 23, 2003 and was part of a vision buy the Emir (basically the king) of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. It was stated that “Dubailand is a tourism, real estate, hospitality, entertainment, leisure and retail mega project under development in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It will cover an area of 3 billion square feet and its initial infrastructure will be built at a cost of $64 Billion. The Dubailand theme park area will contain 45 mega projects and over 200 sub projects, making it the most ambitious tourist destination ever created.
| Announced | October 23, 2003 |
| Project Cost | $64 Billion |
| Area | 3.0 Billion square feet |
Dubai land is being created to appeal to the widest audience of tourists, covering all age groups, nationalities, and activities. On completion, Dubailand will be twice the size of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, making it the biggest theme/amusement park resort in the world. Dubailand is being built in 4 phases, each of which will last for 5 years. The first phase of development, from 2005 to 2010, will include the development of initial roads and infrastructure. This will follow with concentrating on the unique leisure and entertainment products until it’s completed in 2023.
The various projects being built in Dubailand would have been categorized into six themed zones, each which focus on a different aspect of the Dubailand experience, these would have been:
- Attractions World
- Experience Worl
- Sports World
- Eco-Tourism World
- Themed Leisure/Vacation World
- Entertainment World
