Qetaifan Projects, the company owned by Katara Hospitality, announced that it has awarded the design and build contract for the edutainment immersive water ride in Qetaifan Island North to the British company Sarner International; an award-Winning Design and Audiovisual Studio 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 waterpark rides, which number up to 36. In addition to the Icon Tower, which is 80 meters high.

The Edutainment Ride is inspired by the history of oil discovery in Qatar; it is to 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 the Museums Authority in order to ensure the quality of the content and its historical validity and to come out with the best realistic image stemming from the Qatari perspective and culture for oil exploration and extraction. Therefore, 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 3 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 multimedia presentations.

On this occasion, Sheikh Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, Head of Business Development at Qetaifan Projects, expressed his contentment, saying, “This cooperation comes as a continuation of the realization of the company’s vision to make Qetaifan Island North the first entertainment destination of its kind in Qatar. This matter is of great importance and we consider it a national duty due to the contribution it will add in the sectors of tourism, hospitality and entertainment, not only that, but in terms of competitive international standards that express the concerted efforts exerted in promoting Qatari tourism. ” He continued, “There is no doubt that adding an edutainment ride introducing 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.” He added, “This cooperation comes within a series of local and global partnerships that will prepare to host the 2022 World Cup and serve Qatar Vision 2030, especially since we at Qetaifan Projects are working to position Qetaifan Island North as a modern entertainment destination that provides a unique experience and actively contributes to providing sustainable solutions that serve tourism and hospitality.” The island will be an integrated community of entertainment and housing by providing all facilities and services, the most important of which is the school and the medical center. He concluded, “The safety and security standards come on top of our interest in designing and constructing the waterpark, and accordingly we have chosen the best companies in this field to work on implementing and managing the waterpark.”

It is worth mentioning that the waterpark and its Icon tower, which reaches a height of 80 meters, will be managed and operated by Rixos International Hotels Group for the first time in Qatar, along with the hotel and the Beach Club. Rixos Group is famous for its ownership of the Land of Legends Waterpark in Turkey.

From his side, Mr. Ross Magri, Managing Director of Sarner International, added “Sarner’s 50 year experience in both the theme park and museum markets is perfectly suited for this innovative project that combines the two, to create an immersive water ride that is not only fun but also educational. We are therefore 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 square meters and is surrounded by 6 beaches and a hotel with the capacity of 350 keys, in addition to the beach club and retail area. The waterpark features 36 waterslides and rides and is part of 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 square meters, and the projects area on the island extends to approximately 830 thousand square meters.