ECN202 Major Group Assignment – Fall 2010

Assessing The Economic Impact of Ferrari World Theme Park on the UAE Economy

 This assignment is worth 25% of your final grade.

 The Assignment can be done individually or in a group of no more than four people.
 The assignment is due on Thursday 11th January no later than 5pm.
 The assignment must be submitted to your e-portfolio.

Over the last few weeks, a number of media reports have alluded to the positive economic impact that
will flow through to the UAE economy as a result of the opening of the new Ferrari World Theme Park

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/ferrari-world-bring-boost-yas-island-real-estate-359044.html

http://gulfnews.com/business/automotives/ferrari-world-to-put-tourism-in-the-fast-lane-1.702143

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201010/2164/

http://ghalegroup.com/blog/2010/07/22/worlds-first-ferrari-theme-park-to-open-in-abu-dhabi/

Your task is to research the Ferrari World Theme Park from a business perspective and try to estimate
the economic impact it will have on the UAE economy. Some of the issues that you will need to consider
when compiling your report include:

What was the cost of building Ferrari World?

 How was it financed?

 Who was it financed by?
 Was any public money used to pay for the project?
 Did the Government provide any incentives to attract Ferrari World to open in the UAE? If so,
what were they and what did they cost the economy?
 Did the Global Financial/Economic Crisis have any impact on the construction of Ferrari World?
 What impact did the project have on employment in the economy? How many jobs were
created during construction? How many jobs were created to run the park? What impact will it
have on UAE GDP growth?
 From where were most of the materials used to build the project sourced from? What about
the construction/engineering/design firms- where did they come from?
  Looking forward, how many visitor numbers will the Park attract? What is the cost of a ticket?
How much revenue will that generate? Will any of this revenue be taxed?
 What is the impact on expected tourism numbers into Abu Dhabi? Will this have any impact on
Dubai?
 What other industries in the UAE economy will be affected by this expected increase in tourism
numbers?
 Was there an environmental cost in constructing Ferrari World? If so, what was done to try to
limit this?

Your report needs to illustrate that you have a solid understanding of the economic concepts covered in
ECN202.

The expected word count is:

1 person: 3500 words

Group of 2: 4500 words

Group of 3: 5500 words

Your report must cite references where appropriate and should be done using APA style in MS Word.