Attractions operator Loro Parque has launched the latest addition to its Canary Islands attractions portfolio – the €30m (US$35.6m, £26.6m) Poema De Mar aquarium in Gran Canaria.
Sitting in the port area of Las Palmas, just 200m (656ft) from the popular Las Canteras beach, the Poema De Mar (which translates as 'Poem of the Sea') is the first Loro Parque development outside of Tenerife.
Featuring 38 display tanks and 350 species of fish, birds, small mammals, amphibians and reptiles, the 12,500sq m (134,500sq ft) venue has been masterplanned by Spanish architecture firm VDR Designs, with a focus on renewable energy and sustainability.
“We’re right in the harbour, next to where the cruise ships arrive, so that’s a whole new market for us,” said Loro Parque founder Wolfgang Kiessling, speaking to
Attractions Management.
“We can also count on the tourists who come to Gran Canaria because, up to now, this kind of attraction has been missing. I think we can draw quite a lot of people.”
When exploring the aquarium, visitors will go through three areas covering surface marine ecosystems, deep marine ecosystems and freshwater species.
At the start of the tour, guests will be greeted with a jungle environment recreating landscapes and biodiversity of different parts of the world.
The next area is a reef environment, which as its centrepiece features a 400,000-litre tank filled with different fish and coral reefs.
The final area, 'Deep Sea', features the world’s largest curved window exposition, which at 36m (118ft) long and 7.3m (24ft) high, offers a look into a vast underwater world within the aquarium.
A statement from the aquarium said: “Loro Parque has always maintained a firm commitment to wellbeing of the animals, conservation of the biodiversity, as well as to ensuring the highest quality of its facilities and to demonstrating respect for the environment.
"This has been confirmed through multiple national and international distinctions, as well as seals of quality and of environmental commitment received throughout our 45-year history.”
The aquarium is not the only new attraction planned for Gran Canaria, with the Kiessling Group set to build a €60m (£52.7m, US$67m) waterpark,
which is scheduled to open in 2020.
For more from Wolfgang Kiessling, check out the Q3 edition of Attractions Management, available here.
