Dubai theme park owner DXB Entertainments has appointed Mohamed Almulla as its new chief executive.

Abdulla Al Habbai, the chairman of DXB Entertainments and its parent Meraas Holding, said yesterday that Mr Almulla will take on the role with immediate effect, according to the statement issued to the DFM. Mr Almulla had been the chief executive of Arab Media Group, part of Dubai Holding, of which Mr Al Habbai is also chairman.

In his previous capacity, Mr Almulla led “innovative customer-centric strategies and directed the [Arab Media Group] towards attaining significant market growth in the entertainment and media sector”.

The Arab Media Group, founded in 2005, owns the family entertainment and cultural attraction Global Village, which received 5.6 million visitors during its 2016-17 season, up on 5.3 million visitors a year earlier.

On Monday, Raed Al Nuaimi, DXB Entertainments’ previous chief executive, was appointed to lead a new entity that will manage multibillion-dollar development projects across Dubai Holding and Meraas Holding. Mr Al Nuaimi continues as board member.

DXB Entertainments owns the Dubai Parks and Resorts complex, which includes Legoland Dubai, Bollywood Parks and Motiongate Dubai.

Its shares dipped to 77 fils on the DFM.

“The key cause of this dip was the postponement of inauguration of several rides and the eventual disappointing theme park footfall, even though general tourism in the country was quite strong,” said Mohamed Zein, an analyst with Renaissance Capital in Dubai.

“The key priority [of the new chief executive] is to identify the main reasons behind the disappointing visitation figures and devise strategies to successfully drive traffic sustainably.”

The share price reached an ­all-time high of Dh1.76 on Aug­ust 7.

DXB Entertainments plans to cut operational costs by 20 per cent this year compared with initial projections. It reported 586,355 visits during the first quarter. Full-year forecasts are for 6.7 million visits, according to analysts.

The company incurred a net loss of Dh292 million in the three months to March 31, compared with a loss of Dh38m during the same period last year, when none of the three theme parks at the Dubai Parks and Resorts complex were open.

DXB Entertainments, which posted a net loss of Dh235m in the fourth quarter, opened its theme parks in a phased manner from October 31.

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