Why Disney in Abu Dhabi? Iger talks ‘huge endorsement’ of location
Disney’s next theme park will be in Abu Dhabi, and CEO Bob Iger described the choice as a “huge endorsement” of the location.
From left: Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi (CEO of Miral), His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak (Chairman of Miral), His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi), Bob Iger (CEO of The Walt Disney Company), and Josh D’Amaro, (Chairman of Disney Experiences).
Images courtesy of Disney / Miral
The Walt Disney Company announced on May 7, 2025 its plans to build a new theme park on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi in collaboration with entertainment company Miral. During Disney’s quarterly earnings call on the same day, Iger elaborated on the selection of Abu Dhabi as the location for the project.
“We did study the region very carefully and we know that we had many opportunities,” Iger said. “Obviously, building a theme park in a location is a huge endorsement of that location. It speaks volumes in terms of the ability of that location to sustain a theme park.”
In addition to the prospect of promising data projections for the number of tourists who will visit the region in the coming years, Iger was intrigued by the shared qualities he noticed among Disney, the Abu Dhabi region, and Miral.
“They demonstrated a number of things that are really important to us,” Iger continued. “One, a real appreciation of quality and innovation, an appreciation of arts and creativity, and a huge commitment to new technology. We were impressed with all of that.” He also cited “a real appreciation for our history and our legacy, of moving forward and being forward-thinking and innovating.”
Iger concluded his remarks by saying, “It was clear to us that of all the places that we could choose from, there didn’t seem to be any place that was better than this.”
Full transcript of Iger’s remarks
A caller named Steven asked the following question during Disney’s quarterly earnings call:
Congratulations on Abu Dhabi. I was wondering if you could speak a little more on how you settled specifically on this location and this partner. Yas Island is really exciting already with the track and Ferrari World, and the Emirate has a lot in infrastructure, but there are a lot of choices in the region. If you could just think about what audience you’re going after and how this particular location is best suited for those purposes.
Steven then asked an additional question about Disney Cruise Line, which Disney CFO Hugh Johnston answered.
Then, Iger addressed the caller’s Abu Dhabi question by saying the following:
On the Abu Dhabi question, which is a good question, Steven: We did study the region very carefully and we know that we had many opportunities.
Obviously, building a theme park in a location is a huge endorsement of that location. It speaks volumes in terms of the ability of that location to sustain a theme park.
I should start, really, with an overview of the Middle East. It was very obvious to us that there were many people — basically hundreds of millions in the world — that were income-qualified where a trip to one of our six locations [Disneyland Resort in California, Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan, Disneyland Paris in France, and Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disney Resort in China] were pretty lengthy in nature and expensive. We really thought the best way, obviously, to reach those people is to basically bring our product to them.
Interestingly enough, as an aside, when we decided to build a cruise ship and put it in Singapore, which will not launch until the end of the year, we put [vacation bookings] on sale just a few months ago, and the first quarter sold out in a matter of days, as a for instance.
So there’s clearly a desire for consumers to engage with Disney in a wide region that is actually distanced enough from our other locations so that we don’t really use them in a way that is cannibalistic to the places we already operate.
Then when you look at Abu Dhabi and the UAE, I mentioned the statistics earlier today. Talk about it being a crossroads of the world! 500 million income-qualified people live within four hours. 120 million people will come through Dubai and Abu Dhabi this year alone. Abu Dhabi estimates that 39 million tourists will visit Abu Dhabi in 2030. That says a lot. Then as we started to really dig deeper into Abu Dhabi specifically and engage with our partners, obviously, capital was not an issue, but in addition to that, they demonstrated a number of things that are really important to us.
One, a real appreciation of quality and innovation, an appreciation of arts and creativity, and a huge commitment to new technology. We were impressed with all of that.
We also looked at what they’ve already built: the Louvre which is already built, the Guggenheim which is going up, and incredible other experiences. The architecture here, as well. Everywhere we look, we basically were convinced that this is a perfect place for us.
Then Miral, our partners, we immediately bonded with them in many respects, spoke the same language. We both have a real appreciation for our history and our legacy, of moving forward and being forward-thinking and innovating as also part of, basically, our DNA.
It was clear to us that of all the places that we could choose from, there didn’t seem to be any place that was better than this. One of the reasons why it came together so quickly was how convinced we became, particularly after engaging with our partners, that this was the right place.
More Attractions Magazine stories:
Follow us:
Whether you’re ready for your next Disney Destinations vacation or your first, our trusted partner Mouse Fan Travel will handle the planning so you can focus on the memories. They offer free vacation-planning services and have nearly 20 years of experience creating memorable Disney vacations. Visit Mouse Fan Travel for a fee-free, no-obligation quote today.
