MENA Leisure Industry Success will be Data Driven, says MENALAC ahead of the release of its 2nd MENA Leisure Report

The Middle East & North Africa Leisure and Attraction Council (MENALAC) has announced the second edition of the MENA Leisure Report, set for an April 2025 release. Not just a collector’s edition, the upcoming Report promises to be a go-to source of knowledge, which is being curated by industry, for the industry. Going by the initial responses and the increasing demand for the Report, it will be a cherished keepsake, just like the previous edition. 

On behalf of MENALAC, Prakash Vivekanand – a Founding Member and former Board Member of MENALAC, who spearheaded the first edition of the report and has been tasked to lead the second edition too – stated, “It is my privilege and honour to drive a knowledge-centric initiative like the MENA Leisure Report. Today, data drives decisions and with the upcoming Report we are keen to support leisure and entertainment businesses to stay on the path of innovation and profitability.”

Staying with data, according to experts, the MENA region is set for a robust tourism outlook. For perspective, the UAE aims to welcome 40 million hotel guests as part of its Tourism Strategy 2031, encouraging investments in related tourism sectors. Plans include investing AED100 billion ($27 billion) to diversify the country’s existing leisure and entertainment offerings.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is also set to witness unprecedented growth of its entertainment sector.

SEVEN – (PIF) owned company – alone has committed to invest $13 billion to create 21 entertainment destinations across the Kingdom.

Qatar is also ramping up its entertainment offerings. After the recent opening of the Meryal water park, the upcoming Simaisma Project will house an expansive theme park, an 18-hole golf course and luxury resorts, among several other offerings.

Against this backdrop, the upcoming 250-page second edition of the MENA Leisure Report will be a compelling piece of work enriched by input from authoritative voices from the regional leisure & entertainment industry. The Report will not only highlight sectoral trends, innovations and developments, but also offer an in-depth evaluation of factors that have the potential to make this industry even more exciting. Including opinion pieces, country reports, interviews, hard-to-find data, statistics and analytics, as well as MENALAC member details, the MENA Leisure Report will be a keepsake. For a constantly evolving industry driven by technological innovation, accelerated by changing visitor expectations and propelled by intensifying competition, the Report will serve as a go-to document.

“The second edition of the MENA Leisure Report is necessary for the industry to measure what’s going on, while acting as a barometer to attract new concepts and ideas,” Vivekanand concluded.