Qetaifan Projects, the company owned by Katara Hospitality, has awarded the design and build contract for the edutainment immersive water ride in Qetaifan Island North to British company Sarner International.
Sarner International is an award-winning design and audio-visual studio responsible for the design, building and installation of innovative experiences for brands, museums and theme parks all over the world. This step comes within the construction works and augmented reality preparations for one of the 36 waterpark rides, in addition to the Icon Tower, which is 80 metres high.
The Edutainment Ride is inspired by the history of oil discovery in Qatar as it will explain the process of how oil is formed, located, drilled, extracted, transported, separated and then used in today’s world. The ride follows a track through a set of scenes.
With the addition of special effects such as 3D mapping, animatronics, projection, special lighting, heat, vibration, lightning, drilling machines and fog screens, the story is enhanced and enriched into an exciting and immersive ride with thrills and exhilaration throughout its length.
The ride will also be designed in cooperation with museums authority to ensure the quality of the content and historical validity, and to come out with the best realistic image stemming from Qatari perspective and culture for oil exploration and extraction. The tour will serve all age groups, for visitors and families, in an informative and interactive adventure.
Guests enter the Edutainment Ride through an introductory exhibition which explains some of the background events that happened when oil was first suspected in the region. The attraction is housed in two buildings and one ride tower, and a cave houses the log flume ride with entrance and exit exhibition areas to display the story, as well as disembarkation and embarkation of the ride.
The Edutainment Tower will be designed by Atkins. From the platform, the guests are taken on to one of three boats of the ride and enter the Edutainment Cave, each boat can take a maximum of 16 guests. After exiting the cave, the guests enjoy the outside section of the ride until they reach the Edutainment Tower where the boat will be elevated to another level so they can enjoy the second half of the multimedia presentations.
Sheikh Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, Head of the Business Development Department at Qetaifan Projects, said the cooperation with (Sarner International) is a continuation of the realisation of their vision to make Qetaifan Island North the first entertainment destination of its kind in Qatar.
He said that there is no doubt that adding an edutainment ride which will introduce visitors to the history of Qatar would work to attract the largest number of tourists of different age groups, especially those interested in exploring different cultures.
Of course, there will be regular school trips and more local partnerships with bodies and institutions interested in art and culture.
The island will be an integrated community with entertainment and housing, providing all necessary facilities and services, including a school and medical center.
Safety and security standards, according to Al-Thani, come on top of their interest in designing and constructing the waterpark, and accordingly, he said that they have chosen the best companies in the field to work on implementing and managing the waterpark.
The waterpark and the Icon tower will be managed and operated by Rixos International Hotels Group, along with the hotel and the beach club. Rixos Group is famous for their Land of Legends Waterpark in Turkey.
Ross Magri, Managing Director of Sarner International, added that Sarner’s 50-year experience in both the theme park and museum markets is perfectly suited for the innovative project.
We are delighted to have been awarded the contract, working with some of the best teams in the world to deliver, what will be another award-winning project that will stand the test of time.
The waterpark spans 137,000 sqm and is surrounded by six beaches and a hotel with capacity for 350 keys, in addition to the beach club and a retail area. The waterpark features 36 waterslides and rides and is part of the Qetaifan Island North, which is part of Lusail City.
It will be the first entertainment and touristic island in Qatar, making it a distinctive waterfront for the city. The whole island spans approximately 1.3 million sqm, and the projects area on the island extends to approximately 830 thousand sqm.
For updates and more information, visit qetaifanprojects.com.
