Qatar Plans $5.5b Development With Disney-Size Theme Park

The 650,000-square-meter (160-acre) entertainment park is estimated to be bigger than Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Qatar is developing the $5.5 billion Simaisma tourist project, which will feature a theme park bigger than Walt Disney Co's Magic Kingdom. The Simaisma project, 40 minutes north of Doha, will occupy eight million square meters (1,976 acres) over seven kilometres of beaches. It will include an 18-hole golf course, 300 villas, luxury resorts, a marina, beach club, and residential and business zones.

Monumental Milestone

• Simaisma project to span three square miles of beachfront land
• The project will be centered around a large amusement park
• It will include an 18-hole golf course, 300 villas, luxury resorts, a marina, beach club, and residential and business zones

Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund subsidiary, will handle it. “The anchor is the theme park and that phase will be coming first to attract more people to come and invest,” Qatari Diar CEO Ali Mohamed Al-Ali said. Tourism is part of the government's diversification plan.

Qatari Diar is talking with various foreign operators to oversee the 650,000-square-meter (160-acre) entertainment park, estimated to be bigger than Magic Kingdom. Private developers and investors may construct hotels, houses, and other amenities on 16 plots with Saudi, UAE, Turkish, US, and European developers showing keen interest in the project.

Qatar wants tourism to contribute 12% to GDP by 2030. Tourism has increased since the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which the country prepared for. Doha's airport had over 45 million passengers last year, and Qatar continues to expand its sports prominence by hosting the AFC Asian Cup and winning a Formula 1 slot.

The Simaisma development will boost Qatar's coastal resorts, which make up 10% of its 39,000 hotel rooms. “We’re not competing with anybody in the region,” Al-Ali added. “We are introducing a new product that’s not available elsewhere, along with all its amenities and services all together in one location,” he said.