The company that brought snow to Dubai have set their sights on helping build the world's biggest indoor ski park in China.
Majid Al Futtaim, the developer behind Ski Dubai, has announced that it will provide design and development consultancy services for Wintastar Shanghai, an alpine-themed park set to be more than three times the size of the Al Barsha attraction.
The 90,000 square metre park in the subtropical city will have an Olympic-standard slope, as well as snowy play zones for those reluctant to put on a pair of skis.
It is the company’s first project in East Asia and will be led by Singapore-based KOP Limited, a real estate development and entertainment company.
The agreement is the beginning of an “extensive international footprint” for Al Futtaim’s indoor snow parks, said the company’s chief executive officer Ahmed Galal Ismail.
"We are delighted to work with KOP Limited and provide our expertise in developing what will be one of the greatest indoor snow entertainment facilities in the world,” said Mr Ismail in a statement.
“This partnership underscores Majid Al Futtaim's extensive knowledge and experience in designing, developing and operating indoor snow entertainment facilities that speak to changing customer and lifestyle preferences.”
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China currently holds the record for the world’s largest indoor ski and snow park. The current title holder is the 80,0000 square metre Harbin Wanda Indoor Ski and Winter Sports Resort. It opened last year in Harbin, a city near the Russian border famed for its year-round ice sculptures.
The indoor slopes of Winstastar will be a contrast in subtropical Shanghai, where temperatures average from 3°C in winter to 33°C in July.
Ski Dubai, the first indoor ski park in the Middle East, boasts a still far from inconsiderable 22,500 square metres of indoor ski space.
A completion date for the Shanghai project has not been announced.
The world’s first indoor ski park opened in an abandoned railway station in Vienna in 1927 and it was the 2005 opening of Ski Dubai that helped put Dubai on the world map for opening a ski hill in the desert.
Majid Al Futtaim has since launched a number of snow parks in the Middle East. Ski Egypt opened in greater Cairo last year and Majid Al Futtaim is currently developing an indoor ski parks in Saudi Arabia, as well as snow parks in Oman and Abu Dhabi.
