Many firms give staff uncommon job titles however few stick within the thoughts as a lot as Mohammad El Etri’s. The Dubai-based government is vp of Global Snow for the leisure division of Middle Eastern retail operator Majid Al Futtaim and the begin to 2023 has been one of many busiest instances of his profession.

Last month he swung open the doorways to the biggest indoor snow park within the Middle East and he reveals to us that he’ll quickly be doing it over again because the long-awaited Snow Abu Dhabi will debut within the subsequent 4 months.

Remarkably, essentially the most astounding facet of this enlargement is not that winter-themed leisure is snowballing in recognition throughout one of many world’s warmest areas. It’s much more shocking that these snow parks are all discovered inside purchasing malls.

Fierce rivalry between malls is a factor of the previous in lots of markets all over the world. The introduction of on-line purchasing adopted by the pandemic compelled outlets to shutter and led to loads of malls closing their doorways. Not within the Middle East.

Across the area, malls are thriving and there’s good purpose for this. Temperatures incessantly soar previous 100 levels in the summertime making it insufferable open air after just a few minutes. So as an alternative of getting a typical essential avenue of outlets, cities there are typically constructed round a number of huge malls.

Countries within the area handled Covid so swiftly and decisively that footfall returned to malls just a few months after the onset of the pandemic. Masks have been obligatory indoors till as not too long ago as September final 12 months which stored Covid case numbers down and gave prospects the arrogance to proceed purchasing indoors.

In flip, the competitors between malls elevated and so too did the necessity for every one to have its personal promoting level. It is widespread for Middle Eastern malls to attempt to outdo one another in a bid to tempt prospects to buy there reasonably than at their rivals. This one-upmanship has led to them being residence to an more and more outlandish array of sights.

Nightly fireworks reveals, curler coasters, toboggan rides and aquariums could sound just like the line-up for a theme park however they’re truly a number of the sights supplied by purchasing malls within the glitzy Emirate of Dubai. One mall is adorned like completely different nations with hieroglyphics etched into columns within the Egyptian space and a large junk ship within the Chinese zone. Another is residence to a 24 meter lengthy diplodocus skeleton, a full-size ice rink and an indoor waterfall.

These sights make malls within the Middle East extra like leisure facilities than purchasing arcades and the trade’s main gentle is Majid Al Futtaim. The Dubai-based firm owns 29 malls, greater than 600 cinema screens and a number of native franchises of western retailers together with Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister and Crate & Barrel. Its gleaming malls are filled with modern touches designed to make purchasing stress-free and pleasurable. No stone appears to have been left unturned.

Parents can wheel youngsters across the cavernous complexes in miniature supercars, baggage might be left with a concierge for free of charge so buyers can browse with out carrying them and there are even contact screens the place drivers can enter the license plates of their vehicles in order that they will find them within the car parking zone.

The malls’ film theaters are a few of the most lavish on this planet with open and ethereal lobbies crammed with high-end snack bars and eating places run by movie star cooks. They stand in stark distinction to the darkish and dingy lobbies of European cinemas and look extra like galleries with posters for upcoming releases as an alternative of art work. They are locations the place folks go to hang around earlier than catching a film within the equally extravagant theaters.

In the Middle East, 4D cinemas with shifting seats, water and wind results are flourishing, in contrast to elsewhere on this planet. Investment within the product is the magic contact because the top-tier seats are bigger and extra luxurious than these in top notch airline cabins. Their incline might be adjusted on the contact of a button and so they include waiters delivering complimentary meals and drinks.

The jewel in Majid Al Futtaim’s crown is its portfolio of themed leisure experiences that are scattered throughout its malls. At the underside finish there are Magic Planet complexes that includes video games arcades, bumper vehicles and bowling lanes. Next up is the Dreamscape VR park and indoor skydiving with iFLY Dubai. Then comes Global Snow.

When folks consider an indoor ski park, a chairlift and an icy slope with a couple of flags scattered on it involves thoughts. Not in Dubai. The slope in Majid Al Futtaim’s Ski Dubai advanced is simply one of many sights. It can be residence to a penguin enclosure, toboggan slides and snowplough bumper vehicles in addition to big hamster balls and internal tubes which run down the slope.

At the foot of it’s a faux-Alpine village with charming picket chalets, a chairlift hovering above and synthetic pine timber. It’s no Mickey Mouse attraction because the temperature inside is an icy 30 levels so skiers’ breath seems like clouds of smoke.

The World Ski Awards have ranked it the world’s finest indoor ski resort for the previous seven years working main Majid Al Futtaim to broaden the format. It created the Global Snow division devoted to designing and managing icy indoor leisure venues and put seasoned retail specialist El Etri in command of it. The enlargement began with the launch of Ski Egypt in 2017 however the largest step ahead came visiting the previous month with the opening of Snow Oman, the biggest indoor snow park within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The 14,830 sq. meter web site seems prefer it has come from the pages of One Thousand and One Nights due to its palm timber, terracotta-colored fort and picket crusing ship. What makes it distinctive is that it’s all coated in a thick layer of snow. The park tells the story of a freak blizzard which supposedly hit Oman creating ski slopes in its mountains and 20 family-friendly rides round them. There’s additionally a 430 meter ice rink, a penguin enclosure and even a zipper line-like attraction which winds across the park giving company a birds eye view of it.

The snow has solely simply settled within the park however El Etri is already making ready for extra to fall. In the second quarter of this 12 months close by Abu Dhabi will add a snow park to its portfolio of sights which already features a cutting-edge water park, a Ferrari-themed park, Warner Bros. World and, quickly, the primary SeaWorld outdoors the United States. Snow Abu Dhabi can have much more of a fairytale theme than its predecessors as it should have a supposedly enchanted tree within the center surrounded by slides and sights.

Promoting ski resorts within the desert would not sound like a stroll within the park nevertheless it’s truly all in a day’s work as El Etri explains.

What does your job contain?

In 2016, I used to be given the chance to determine and develop the Global Snow enterprise, which is in the present day thought-about the primary worldwide enterprise for consulting, managing, and working indoor snow facilities.

As vp of Global Snow, I’m accountable for managing the prevailing operations at our portfolio of snow manufacturers, which incorporates Ski Dubai, Ski Egypt, Snow Oman, and Snow Abu Dhabi, and creating a middle of excellence throughout the board. I’m additionally accountable for driving new tasks and enterprise alternatives internally and globally with third events as operational consultants, potential companions, buyers or operators.

Why did you select a job within the theme park trade?

I used to be working with Majid Al Futtaim Fashion as a basic supervisor within the style enterprise when the chance at Majid Al Futtaim Entertainment arose. I did not totally know what to anticipate however I used to be excited to strive one thing new and problem myself. I immediately fell in love with working within the theme park trade and really feel very lucky for the alternatives that this function has supplied me.

I’ve been with Majid Al Futtaim Entertainment for seven years and, in that point, we’ve got expanded our portfolio with the opening of Ski Egypt, Snow Oman, and we are going to open Snow Abu Dhabi in Q2. We have additionally been the operational design advisor on two tasks, one in all which is Wintastar Shanghai, in China, which is slated to be the most important indoor Ski resort on this planet.

What was the profession path that you simply took to get right here?

My profession has adopted a non-linear path, which has been difficult, rewarding, and allowed for lots of progress and growth.

After receiving a Master’s diploma in literature and schooling from the Lebanese University, I pursued a profession in high-end style and jewellery and held many positions, starting from nation supervisor to basic supervisor. In 2014, I used to be recognized as a excessive potential chief by Majid Al Futtaim and earned a scholarship to finish an MBA diploma on the prestigious London Business School for 2 years. The program inspired me to undertake a very world perspective, develop my strategic consciousness and improve my enterprise acumen, abilities which have stood to me in good stead to at the present time.

After 10 years working in style, I made the transition to working within the theme park trade and have by no means regarded again. I’m proof that it’s potential to alter paths at any stage in your profession. The most essential factor is to outline your objective, and in case you determine to pursue a company profession, then discover a corporation that displays your private values.

What does a typical day contain?

No two days are the identical. It’s a really various and thrilling profession. Having stated that, I like to start out my morning by a chat with the crew, and a fast overview of the efficiency and the priorities as I drive to the workplace. Once I’m in my workplace, the very first thing I do is examine how we’re commercially trending after which re-look at my priorities for each the day and week forward. Most days additionally contain quite a few alignment conferences with completely different stakeholders and groups.

A big portion of my time can be devoted to engaged on technique and devising new methods to reinforce our numerous companies throughout the Global Snow portfolio, which is an space of explicit curiosity to me. I additionally make it a precedence to spend as a lot time as potential on the bottom at our numerous amenities, overseeing the operations and spending time with the crew. To me, it’s important to make time to create and preserve a powerful and open relationships with all crew members.

What abilities do you could do your job?

The skillset is sort of numerous, because it covers operations, tasks and enterprise growth, however you positively have to be passionate and prepared to roll up your sleeves. It’s additionally important to be customer-centric and hearken to your company and crew. At Majid Al Futtaim Entertainment, our customer-obsessed tradition and steady pursuit of excellence has been integral to our success, which spans virtually three many years throughout eight markets within the MENA area. We have a wealth of market experience, and we constantly search to grasp what our company need. We additionally delight ourselves on being agile and are consistently evolving in keeping with rising developments and altering buyer calls for and preferences.

What do you want most about your job?

I really like how versatile my day might be, from advising as a advisor to a third-party investor, to overlooking every day operations for the assorted resorts, driving the design and growth of latest tasks, or reviewing the marketing strategy and advertising technique.

I really like being able to innovate and develop new experiences, and we’re all the time experimenting with new concepts and pushing the boundaries, which is one thing that Majid Al Futtaim extremely encourages.

Almost 20 years after our late founder Mr Majid introduced snow to the desert with Ski Dubai, we’ve got expanded our footprint with the launch of Ski Egypt and most not too long ago Snow Oman. We by no means relaxation on our laurels and are consistently evolving and taking a look at new methods to complement the lives of our company by the ability of leisure.

In latest years, Ski Dubai has developed from being one of many area’s hottest and iconic vacationer sights to a world-class sports activities vacation spot that hosts worldwide snow sports activities competitions and has retained the title of Best Indoor Ski Resort within the World for seven years in a row.

What is the spotlight of your day?

When I’m working onsite, there’s nothing that compares to seeing profitable and easy operations, the crew engaged and completely happy and the smile on company’ faces as they create lasting recollections with family and friends.

What has been the proudest second of your profession thus far?

There have been many proud moments, however there are in all probability two that stand out.

The first is the approval and signing of the UAE Ski Federation by the FIS (International Ski Federation). We had pushed this course of on behalf of the UAE Federation, with the ambition of making a UAE nationwide crew that might compete on the worldwide stage. After a five-year marketing campaign, we attained the membership in 2019. While the desert could appear to be an unlikely vacation spot for snow sports activities, our athletes are competing internationally with the aim of taking part within the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.

The second could be signing the partnership to supply design and growth consultancy companies in 2018 for Wintastar, the world’s largest indoor ski resort in Shanghai, China. This was a big deal because it marked our first foray into Eastern Asia, and as a advisor reasonably than a developer.

What is the most important problem in your job?

The largest problem in my job is guaranteeing that we proceed to supply a singular and thrilling experiences for our company, whereas additionally managing operational prices and staffing ranges. It could be a delicate stability to strike and requires cautious planning and fixed adaptation to altering circumstances.

One of the important thing methods we strategy this problem is by usually soliciting suggestions from our company and our crew members. We wish to ensure that we’re assembly their wants and expectations, and we’re all the time in search of methods to enhance the visitor expertise.

At the identical time, we have to be conscious of our price range and staffing ranges, and ensure that we’re offering a protected and environment friendly operation. We have additionally invested in expertise and knowledge analytics to assist us optimize our operations and make data-driven choices. This has been a game-changer when it comes to our capacity to determine areas for enchancment and make modifications that profit each our company and our backside line.

Overall, the important thing to success in my function is sustaining a powerful give attention to each the visitor expertise and the enterprise facet of the operation. It’s a difficult job, but in addition extremely rewarding once we’re capable of strike that stability and supply a memorable expertise for our company whereas additionally working a really profitable enterprise.

What recommendation would you give to somebody in search of a job within the theme park trade?

You first have to be passionate concerning the theme park trade. This means being educated concerning the trade, maintaining with the most recent developments, and having a real curiosity within the visitor expertise. I might additionally advise anybody contemplating this as a profession to realize expertise in related fields comparable to hospitality, retail, tourism, leisure or customer support and be sure to are versatile. Theme parks function on a 24/7 schedule so staff should be versatile of their availability to accommodate park hours, together with weekends, holidays, and evenings.

It’s additionally essential to all the time suppose buyer first and supply a constructive buyer expertise all through your entire journey – ranging from intent to go to proper by to post-visit.

If you strategy the job with that mindset and are prepared to work exhausting, I consider you may have an extended and profitable profession on this trade.

What is the key to efficiently working a theme park?

Successfully working a theme park entails loads of shifting elements such because the visitor expertise, which is paramount to a theme park’s success, consideration to element – even minor particulars – and innovating by consistently creating new and thrilling experiences to maintain company coming again. This contains not solely new rides but in addition artistic and interactive experiences and activations.

Safety and compliance can be important, and requires steady coaching to make sure our company have a protected and comfy expertise. A world-class theme park additionally requires an enormous crew effort, and each worker performs a significant function in our general success. Encouraging collaboration, communication and a constructive firm tradition can create a profitable and motivated crew which has a constructive influence on the general visitor expertise.

On high of the above, monetary administration can be essential. Theme parks are costly to construct, preserve, and function and require correct monetary administration to make sure long-term sustainability. This features a mixture of value controls, income administration and funding in new sights and infrastructure.

In abstract, working a profitable theme park requires a mix of consideration to element, innovation, teamwork, security and compliance, and monetary administration, all whereas specializing in offering company with an distinctive expertise.

How do you retain your park forward of the competitors?

Maintaining a aggressive benefit is an ongoing course of and requires a powerful give attention to innovation, unrivalled visitor expertise and market positioning.

Since Ski Dubai was established in 2005, we’ve got been investing in new sights and cutting-edge expertise to draw company and maintain them coming again. We additionally actively solicit concepts and suggestions from company and staff to foster a tradition of experimentation and creativity and be sure that we’re constantly enhancing in keeping with company’ expectations.

Customer obsession is on the coronary heart of all the things we do at our snow parks. Whether you’re at Ski Dubai, Ski Egypt, or Snow Oman, we assure the best stage of visitor expertise and buyer satisfaction. By constantly researching and analysing market developments, we’re not solely capable of meet buyer calls for but in addition keep forward of developments and exceed expectations. It’s additionally crucial to essentially perceive and interact with the area people wherein you use and discover methods to focus on new demographics and buyer profiles.

In an more and more aggressive market, you additionally must differentiate your park from others within the trade by discovering a singular promoting proposition that units you aside.

What is the most important growth on the horizon for the park?

Snow Oman has solely simply opened and is a unbelievable resort boasting greater than 20 rides and sights for households together with an ice rink and a penguinarium, which is residence to a colony of penguins. Right now, our consideration is concentrated on opening Snow Abu Dhabi within the coming months and the enhancement plans of Ski Dubai and Ski Egypt. We are consistently engaged on evolving and redeveloping our visitor expertise to make sure we keep forward of the competitors and supply nice moments for everybody on a regular basis.