Foreigners and locals all pack the busy movie theaters of the United Arab Emirates, and plans are afoot to open even more multi-screen mega-theaters in the coming months. New multiplexes are planned to open in the Gulf region as the boom shows no sign of abating. Building and running movie theaters in the Gulf region in general, and the UAE in particular, has been flourishing since the mid-1990s.
In Abu Dhabi there are already 15 cinemas - another major complex with 12-screens is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Dubai, the emirates' economic capital, has some 50 cinemas, most of them located in huge complexes adjacent to major shopping centers. More are being planned this year and in 2001.
Local investors are banking on an ever-increasing number of movie-goers to fill the new movie houses, since the population is growing in the region and the number of tourists rising dramatically.
Perhaps even more significant is the number of women and children which are expected to go to the movies. Studies show that women and children far outnumber men as movie-goers in the Gulf. This is particularly significant, considering that less than a decade ago movie-goers were mostly men.
During that period, investors did not consider the movie-theater promising business because of competition from videotapes, which were sold and rented locally at low prices. With pirating rampant, new international releases were often available at the local video store long before they made it to the theaters.
The cinema halls, drawing mostly foreign workers, featured for the most part Indian, Pakistani or old American movies.
All that changed drastically, however, in September 1994, with the implementation of the Law Protecting Intellectual and Artistic Rights in the UAE. The Ministry of Information and Culture, together with the police, cracked down on the illegal video trade.
Soon, giant cinema complexes began to appear, showing the same new movies that were being screened around the world. These cinemas quickly became a major entertainment attraction in the region.
The large advertisement campaigns in various newspapers throughout the year reflect the growth in the cinema sector, as well as the competition over cinema goers. There are no official statistics on the number and nationality of cinema goers in the Gulf area.
However, sources in the industry say locals make up at least 50 percent of ticket-purchasers, and their numbers are rising.
Perhaps the best indication of where this sector is headed can be seen in the recent moves of the big international movie and theater companies in the region. Many, including Warner Brothers and Walt Disney, have opened up offices here, trying to get the best position for the expected the industry that’s expected to grow – Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
