When Ferrari World opens its doors this evening, up to 10,000 people are expected to descend upon what the company calls the only official theme park in the Middle East.

And on any given day after that, the world's largest indoor theme park could host up to 20,000 visitors as space permits, said Claus Frimand, General Manager of Ferrari World.

"We can technically have 20,000 people per day, but I don't expect that we will see these numbers except for Eid and summer holidays," Frimand said in an interview. "We have a lot of capacity and can hold a lot of people."

Acknowledging that some global theme parks hit hard times as a result of the world financial crisis, Frimand said he was confident that Ferrari World is opening at a good time as the world economy slowly recovers.

He estimated that the park will attract roughly 40 per cent of visitors from the domestic day- and weekend-trip market and the remaining 60 per cent of visitors from the Gulf, Mena and internationally. "As a tourist place, this is built to cater only to guests," he said. "This is really something that will be in every travel brochure around the world."

Follow to fruition

David Camp, Director of Aecom Economics, said in a Global Attractions Report that Ferrari World appears to be one of the few theme parks to follow through to fruition following the boom years when Dubai and Abu Dhabi announced all kinds of new tourism projects.

"And what of the much-hyped Middle East theme park market? The multitude market? The multitude of grand plans for Dubai and other parts of the region have fallen foul of the global recession and Dubai's over-exuberance," said Camp in the report. "Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi is on track to open but that seems destined to be the flag bearer for the region for the next few years until the economic situation stabilises."

Dr Cedwyn Fernandes, Associate Professor in Economics and International Business at Middlesex University Dubai, said he believes Ferrari World will enjoy solid visitor numbers in the years ahead.

"Ferrari World by virtue of it being a global brand commands instant recognition worldwide. The Ferrari theme park will attract visitors all year round to Yas Island rather than just during racing events and entertainment shows," Fernandes told Gulf News.

"As a result hotels currently in operation will benefit with all year round higher occupancy and new hotel entrants can plan larger capacity facilities. With the visitors to Ferrari World estimated to peak at 3.6 million a year, a conservative estimate of 500,000 additional room demands can be expected."

He likened Ferrari World's impact to that of Euro Disney on the hotel industry in France. "The overall economic impact of the Ferrari World theme park should not be judged just by visitor numbers alone but on the impact of visitor spend in restaurants, retail, hotels, transport - in general the tourism income multiplier," Fernandes said. "A study of visitors to theme parks in the US shows that 38 per cent of the visitors are below 24 years and 39 per cent between 25-44 years old. This bodes well for the Ferrari World theme park given that its main target market is the Arab region and Indian sub-continent both with relatively younger populations."

There is no question that roller coaster fans will travel from the four corners of the earth to experience the hottest new coaster, Frimand said.

For decades, a loyal but unknown number of coaster-crazy fans have been flying great distances — especially in North America — to try out the newest, meanest machines, he said. "You have people who travel from continent to continent to ride roller coasters," Frimand said.

To date, Ferrari World has attracted 11,000 fans to its Facebook page.

Will you be visiting the Ferrari camp? Is there another car camp you would like to see open?