National Geographic is expanding the visitor attraction side of its business into the Middle East, announcing plans to develop up to 10 new locations across Saudi Arabia.
Working in partnership with Saudi investment firm KBW Ventures and the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, National Geographic’s Ocean Odyssey will open at different locations across the Kingdom, offering an immersive walk-through adventure telling the story of the world’s oceans.
National Geographic has enjoyed success with the recent launch of its Times Square attraction in New York City, which the Saudi attractions will be based on.
The first Ocean Odyssey attractions has a tentative launch date set for 2019, with the experience coming first to the city of Riyadh. National Geographic will be working with designers Falcon’s Creative, Pixomondo – the visual effects team behind
Game of Thrones – and Grammy Award-winning composer David Kahne, to produce the visitor experience.
During the experience, visitors will hear from National Geographic photographers and deep-sea explorers, who will share their stories about the world’s oceans. Exhibits will include interactivity, with gaming challenges including cleaning up the ocean and playing with holograms of the sea’s greatest wonders. Environment will be a strong theme, with visitors given the opportunity to take an individual pledge for ocean conservation, a pledge they can then share through social media.
“National Geographic has been igniting the explorer in all of us for 130 years through groundbreaking storytelling from the best scientists, explorers, photographers, and filmmakers in the world,” said Rosa Zeegers, executive vice president of Consumer Products and Experiences at National Geographic.
“Encounter has been wildly successful, and has proven to be a powerful new storytelling platform for us that perfectly embodies our passionate belief in entertainment with purpose and is a natural extension of our brand. These expansion plans are very exciting, and we’re looking forward to delivering this one-of-a-kind experience to the Middle East.”
Part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan – which like much of the Middle East is aiming to reduce reliance on oil – includes a relaxation of the rules on its entertainment sector in an area which traditionally has been ultra-conservative, with particularly harsh laws in relation to women. By 2030, Saudi Arabia wants to have more than 450 clubs providing a variety of cultural activities and events, with the aim of doubling household spending on recreation to 6 percent.
