That is the setting. We are given ‘Miral extends deadline for tender to build Abu Dhabi’s ‘Harry Potter’ land’ (at https://blooloop.com/theme-park/news/miral-construction-tender-harry-potter-land-abu-dhabi/) the quote is that “Miral has extended a bid submission deadline for a tender to build the new Harry Potter-themed land at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi on Yas Island. Per a report from Middle East media publishing company MEED, the deadline has been extended from 28 July to 4 August.” Implying that next week the Start of a $545 million – $816m expansion is due to begin. And in addition we are given “Three new rides in Harry Potter land Miral announced the Middle East’s first Harry Potter-themed land in 2022. It will feature iconic locations from the Wizarding World, as well as three new rides, retail outlets, and F&B facilities. The 40,000 M2 addition to Warner Bros. World will join six existing zones in the park – Warner Bros. Plaza, Bedrock, Dynamite Gulch, Cartoon Junction, Gotham City and Metropolis.” As such The staff of Hogwarts will have to endure a rush of people howling “Yabadabadoo” whilst assaulting the death eaters. These death eaters are in a pincer setting as the other side will be shouting “Yibbity-Yabbity-Doo!”, those poor death eaters won’t know what hit them (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk)
And as I see it, the quote “Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Miral, said: “This is yet another testament to our commitment to continue to position Yas Island as a top global destination for entertainment and leisure, and a great addition to Abu Dhabi’s tourism offerings, contributing to the growth and economic diversification of the emirate.”” Is not entirely accurate. It is that international tourism will see Abu Dhabi as a much more appealing destination and with the ‘idiocy’ (as I personally see it) settings that America is setting with immigration, the costly ‘visa integrity fee’ and several other settings. So as I see it, Universal just dished out $7.7 billion USD (Hogwarts is merely a part of it) and the other park in Orlando will have a rather large problem. With the Hogwarts expansion, Yas Island becomes the most appealing choice for a whole flock of tourists, now definitely deciding that there will be a viable alternative for Orlando, and when Disney arrives in 2027/2028 also on Yas Island, Florida will see the largest downfall in economy they have ever had. When millions of tourists will select Abu Dhabi over Florida, the rest will become a mere escalation of something you could have seen coming miles away. But not to worry, I had the setting in view even as the media seems to be coming up short. In addition Abu Dhabi has the Formula 1® Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 4-7 December 2025. I have no idea yet when the 2026 race is on, but for a lot of people combining the two would be preferable. Also there is a lot more around Yas Island. And the UAE has a much better visa setting where it is offered at a mere fraction of what America offers it. The setting was debatable (at best) when America was the only option, but that hasn’t been the case for almost 4 years. So now as America is bleeding money in almost every direction, the people in Europe, Canada, UK, India, Australia, New Zealand and China will consider Abu Dhabi and Yas Island as their destination in 2026, 2027 and 2028. So how many million of people will seek their preferred choice in EuroDisney (Paris), Efteling (Netherlands) and parks in Belgium, Sweden and several others. A setting that was there from the start.
A setting that will also propel the UAE as a global tourist destination. They already were that, but the millions of Harry Potter fans had Florida, London and Tokyo in their sight, with Abu Dhabi added to the HP arsenal, I reckon that Florida (at present) is allegedly decently much done for.
Have a great day and when in Abu Dhabi try the Emirati Chabab, it is a famous dish and decently yummy.
That is at times a worry, when things go on the cheap it tends to be the more expensive setting you are driven to select. But as I see it, it isn’t always bad. Abu Dhabi (capital of United Arab Emirates) have a few options here. So to show this lets take the ‘normal’ setting.
Warner Brothers Theme park $129 WaterWorld $123 Sea World $177 Ferrari Them park $144 Yas Mall Free
You would think that this will be the master of all bills, but you would be wrong. You see when you get into the Warner Brothers hotel you automatically get a ticket EVERY DAY to one of the theme parks for that day. There are more hotels on Yas Island that give that option. In case of the Warner Brothers hotel, its theme park is across the street (WaterWorld is its neighbour). Oh, and enjoy breakfast there is to be cherished. Don’t take my word for this, YouTube is filled with walkthrough videos of the Hotel and the Theme parks, see for yourself what you could be enjoying.
There is however more. Tourists have the option of buying a 4 Park Ticket for a mere $184 which allows you to visit any of the Yas Island theme parks within 6 days of activating your pass. You have to consider this setting as this implies hundreds of dollars saved per person and you get to select which park you will select. You could spend 4 days in the same park. To give you a comparison a Universal theme park ticket will set you back $600 and that is also per person. So that implies a saving of an easy $400, so what would you select? The added benefit is that the UAE is a zero tax country, so there is a decent reason to visit the Apple Store in Yas Mall and get yourself the apple extension you always wanted.
So as America is setting the additional $250 visa cost, as such Abu Dhabi becomes the premiere location for people wanting the theme park experience. The news (up to recent) was that America is getting a $29,000,000,000 pain invoice from lost international tourists and as I was looking at the presented data from several sources pretty much anywhere, I reckon that by late September, the presented damage will be worse, much worse.
So, why am I focussing on Abu Dhabi? Well, the theme parks are advertised by people who were there as top notch and when you consider the setting that the Diamond pass is annually AED 3,295 ($900) for a whole year with additional discounts all over Yas Island. A full year of access for $900? It is worth retiring there and cool down and soak twice a week in WaterWorld. Nearly all theme parks are indoors in air-conditioned settings and as I see it, next year we get the Harry Potter expansion and the year after that Disney will grace that setting too. In addition (at present) you also get a Unlimited Quick Pass Access, also there is the 25% discount on Dining (at places that support this and also the 25% Discount on Shopping and several other benefits. That implies that the price of the pass will be earned back in just over a week, as such you have 50 weeks of true profit. So what retirement setting offers that? The universal annual pass is seemingly set to $1,095 before taxes. As such Abu Dhabi is seemingly giving you a blast for your bucks.
As I see it, Universal has blacked out dates, Abu Dhabi gives you 365 days of fun. Seems like the optimal saving.
So what is behind this? I am not paid by Miral Experiences (the operator on Yas Island), there is nothing in it for me. But this shows you the utter stupidity of the Trump administration adding a new $250 ‘visa integrity fee’ and when you consider that in 2023, Florida’s theme parks welcomed close to 77 million visitors, merely one state, so when you consider that a massive part of International tourists now have an alternative and a much bigger resentment of America, that are merely two of a bigger set of anti-America setting. Together with decreased rights of privacy at the border. To be clear, I am not anti America, I am merely anti-stupid and at present America is no longer worth it. This is beside America trying to push the 51st State into the face of Mark Carney (Prime Minister of Canada) and his 40,100,000 Canadian brothers and sisters. As such America is getting massive doses of hardship. So when Florida and California loses millions of tourists, what do you think will happen. I see the adjusted ‘videos’ that it will not get back to normal until 2026. Well, that time has gone. As I see it, as there are alternatives America will see this hardship in 2026, 2027 and 2028. There might be some revival in 2028, yet I doubt it, as America sees hardship beyond 2026, crime numbers will accelerate and the quality of life in America is unlikely to see any bright spots before 2029. And that is if America stops being stupid tomorrow morning before 03:00. After that the setting becomes near disastrous and that is merely the summer, at this point their winter seasons are not looking too great either. Winter is a different chicken, most ski and boarding fanatics have their slopes and that’s fine, but at present as places lose control over staff, infrastructures almost everywhere will be near collapse and without infrastructure the tourists will become absent. As a source gave me “Tourists, particularly from Australia and Canada, are increasingly rebooking or cancelling trips away from America due to concerns about border security, perceived political tensions, and a general sentiment of unease, leading to a significant drop in visitors to the US and a surge in interest for alternative destinations like Europe and Bermuda.” As such the setting for America looks grim, very grim.
In an age and a stage of seeing the cheap route thee is a massive setting of people who will be resetting their vacation to the UAE and Abu Dhabi with Dubai a mere 35 minutes away per train. And when you consider that a 30-day tourist visa fee: AED 200 ($54). A 60-day tourist visa fee: AED 300 ($81), seems a lot less than the ‘added’ $250. So how was their ‘visa integrity fee’ a good idea? If my initial understanding is correct and America is utterly broke, then America stops being the place to go until far beyond 2030, but in the meantime the UAE and Saudi Arabia become places to go to. And that is not all, there is every chance that Europeans will return to places like Acorn Adventure (UK), as I see it, there are several places in Europe who will see a returning tourist option.
For me there is this dish which I enjoyed in Ghent in the 11th century (before embarking on the Crusades) and that was possible as the Medieval times are set in the Archeon. They also have a Roman age (complete with gladiator arena and bathing house) and a prehistoric area.
And the Netherlands has more. The Efteling, a theme park that won the biggest theme park award at least twice, making it the biggest contender for Disney parks. And it has its own charm. All places that will feel increased attention as America is slowly strangling its influx of tourists to death.
As such America is due a massive downturn, they forgot that they are not all powerful and other nations have alternatives to what they offer and as they are now raising prices by at least $250 the stage changes. Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, France, London (UK), Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia are all in the running of welcoming the tourists who are now over the American BS (that stuff that makes grass grow in Texas). As I see it, $29 billion was a understated and that will go on for at least 3 years. With border controls impeding out privacy, the setting for business tourists will go down more and more as well. But not to fret, Canada has a welcoming position for these business vendors as well, a visitor visa (single or multiple entry) costs CAD 100 ($72) per person, also a lot less than $250 and that setting will continue for some time.
It is a shame for some, but if America prices itself out of the running, the impact is on themselves. Have a great day and feel free to dream yourself into the past with pastries, I am still dreaming of Dutch poffertjes. And I have an art work by Anton Pieck to assist me in this matter.
That was the setting that I had in mind. You see, some time ago I saw the ‘idea’ that Elon Musk allegedly has. There is nothing wrong with the idea, but in this day and age, with all the settings going on, who is interested in going to New York? Been there, done that I say (in 1999), but the larger setting isn’t the place. There is nothing wrong with the place. Yet as I see it, like the HS2 (UK) the hyper-loop from London to New York seems to be a less then stellar idea. I know that allegedly Elon Musk is setting the stage so that he can get everything as much tested as possible before he is off to Mars (the planet, not the candy bar) and that is fine. Good luck to him.
Yet the setting of a hyper loop in NEOM makes a lot more sense. As I see it, three lines in NEOM seems to be the idea that could attract even more people and more advanced travel options.
Consider the first line connecting Sindalah, the Line and Aquellum (optionally more), the second line connecting Neon bay Airport, the line and Trojena. The third line would be over the length of the line itself allowing people to traverse west to east line in a little over 30 minutes. Optionally with a few stops.
Basically allow the larger places in minutes. From Sindalah to Aquellum in less than an hour and that is just for starters. It would also allow the people in the line to go towards their destinations in mere minutes. There could be additional benefits too, consider that the people over the larger part in Neom could be off to the ski-resort in an hour, driving the desire to Trojena towards an all time high and the same could be said for Sindalah.
This is not the easiest setting and perhaps that Elon Musk has the required equipment already as I reckon that these drills don’t grow on trees (I checked) the fabrication of these drills takes several months (if not longer) and we are in 2025, as such the creation of these lines might take more than the 5 years required, so some haste is due. And with that setting Saudi Arabia will create a new worlds first. A hyper loop that connects these places would also push tourism to a larger degree, with additional connections that allow travel to Riyadh, Jeddah and Medina could grow tourism beyond anything they had expected and considering that there are 1800 million Muslims, only 33 million living in Saudi Arabia could expand on expectations, desires and wonder and that would make it another first in the world. There are additional considerations as the hyper loop could transport the injured over a larger area, reducing the needs for a more equipped Hospital to the line and several smaller hospitals to other areas. That is, if the setting of a hyper loop would appeal to the Saudi government.
There were some additional thought to combine lines one and two, but that is hat some would call the micro management (not meant for me) and the idea to live in the line, work in Aquellum and play in Trojena has massive appeal. I wonder how many Canadians might like the idea of skiing there. The setting seeing Neom would be great, if only I am still alive when these places were completed (five years with my butterfingers?)
Still, the thought of hyper loop trains in Neom should spark any person who enjoys trips on the train. Ill try to get other IP thoughts sorted out tomorrow. Have a great day.
That is what I saw when I took notice of the news in the Guardian called ‘US’s $2.36tn tourism business fears ‘Trump slump’ over tariff turmoil’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/15/trump-tariffs-tourism-business) we might look at “Warnings emerge even as effect of economic and political turbulence on the foreign visitors to the US is hard to define” I disagree, you see, slices from UK (69 million), Australia (26 million), New Zealand (5 million) are now avoiding America mainly because of the Canada (51st state) issue. We took offense and even as I yearn to see the Epic Universe, I have decided that if I do get to pick a vacation, I will choose Warner Brothers Abu Dhabi over Orlando. I know that Warner Brothers will still see my money, but in this case 70% will go to Miral, a United Arab Emirates operator. In that same trend many will seek out Euro Disney, Parks in Tokyo and a few other places. And this is not for a mere year, this is for the duration of the Trump administration. Some insults are just a little too much to bear. Oh, and the Canadians with their 40 million people are also avoiding America. I didn’t think that it amounted to 5%-10% of $2.36tn but that could be because America insulted a little more than just the Commonwealth setting. Perhaps others see the weak American setting, perhaps the stage of the Ukraine is equally as upsetting as the Commonwealth setting. America has been kicking the wrong legs, just as interest payments of a 36 trillion dollar debt is due, America loses a lot more income. As such there is nothing that is hard to define, it is the cost of doing business and that part is becoming increasingly hard.
So this fear is mislabeled, the proper labelling is seen as the price of insulting people, the price of neglecting people and as we see Europe taking additional steps like the fear of espionage on their people by Americans, we need to see that this will take years to undo, especially as Orlando just launched the biggest park in human history, 110 acres (45 ha) in the park itself and the overall size is 750 acres (300 ha), which comes at a cost of $7.7 billion to build, which is stated to be one of the largest and most expensive theme parks in history. Now consider what it takes to get this going, the hotels, the retail stores staff and such costing a bundle in its own right. So as we see the $2.36tn and the 10% lessened revenue and a slice is on that part. Epic Universe will do ok, because it will have millions of Americans wanting to see this place, and the use of influencers was well played, they all showed a place that nearly everyone wants to see. As such the lessened revenue will be felt all over America. Because those wanting to see Epic Universe will take their share from the other places. And that is merely one place. A mere fortnight ago we were told “Several nations issued travel warnings about potential safety risks in America, including Japan, Australia and Canada” others will take notice and that is the larger setting for America for now. So what will Comcast Corp. do? Put it all in a bad bank mortgage and loan and write it off? That would be the economic player will do, as such America will lose a hell of a lot of taxation these several years. Another part of the equation shown in a simple setting. What will happen? That is not for me to tell. But that is the setting that the Guardian is seemingly overlooking.
So as we are given “Warnings that international tourism to the US could be hit by Donald Trump’s effort to re-engineer economic and political relations with the rest of the world are slowly emerging.” With an added “The Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority said last week it was projecting a 5% decline in room tax revenue for its upcoming budget – a decline that may reflect Trump’s trade disputes with Canada and Mexico. Those countries account for 2.6 million visitors to sin city, or half of international travel trade.” As such these two countries account for half the international trade? It seems that America created its own downfall, as I personally see it. And as we see the trend evolve, we need to understand that next year that trend will continue and as Europe, the Commonwealth and others will seek other paths to joy like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Paris (EuroDisney), London, Beijing, Tokyo and other places, the losses for America will add and add.
They wanted to overwhelm the tourist industry and due to political pressures, they merely shown the other places that they might be more desirable. As such, the problem wasn’t hard to define, the Americans merely needed to look into themselves and the problem will exasperate. Consider these places and how they rely on international students to get cheap labour, as the BBC reported last week “Marco Rubio says US revoked at least 300 foreign students’ visas”, and that will have a trickle effect on those still seeking international student visas, they are more likely to seek education from other, non-US places. And the top 50 of universities has plenty of offers on the table for its pending international students. This might seem little, but plenty of business rely on the next batch of international students. So as you are sitting in a theme park hoping for a quick coffee, think again, they might be down a number of staff members because this is a short term impact, the term of summer and that is about to hit all the places that rely on the new batch of international students and with them gone their hiring approach needs to change fast.
All these elements can be foreseen, but are these places taking notice? America is going through huge changes at present and that place is not ready to face the serious impact of the political pressures they tried to set to other nations. These nations are now retaliating in other ways and Canada seeking other location, other drinks and other choices was a mere first step. With Europe joining their homegrown defense spending, America will lose more and more. All this I put in my blog over the last 3-5 years. Even without President Trump the signs were clear, now they are merely escalating revenue losses and that is impacting America in a few ways. Tourism is merely the latter step, but this is the more visible one. It trickles down to nearly every level of the population, still, that might prove fruitful for people who had been unable to find a job. Still the report of a loss of $118B – $236B is not nothing, add to that lessened defense spending and the people not coming now, will hit tourism the clearest, but this loss will go into nearly very level of the American industry and that impacts small businesses a lot more than foreseen.
This is merely my view on the matter, but I have been writing on these dangers for some time. Have a great day.
On the second of December 2024 (one of several) mentions for the eradication of Hamas (among others) was called by me, I did so in the story ‘When it rains it pours’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/12/02/when-it-rains-it-pours-2/) there I put “Saudi Arabia has been under attack through Iranian proxies for too long and as such the three terrorist organizations Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi their eradication becomes a near essential.” IU don’t do this lightly. At some point Iran will set the stage of their ‘wanted’ assistance, all for the greater good of Shia muslims everywhere and they will strike against Saudi Arabia and the UAE. All for a bigger seat at the Muslim table. Iran will go for that at their earliest convenience (read : tactical opportunity) and I reckon that Hamas will be the first to ‘approve’ the action. I was under the impression that this stage was going to happen, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE might wait for too long to take affirmative actions. That was until today. Today, mostly via LinkedIn I saw the news that we see below:
Here we are shown “What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah.” and a source gave us “Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti makes shocking statement against Hamas” in this we are talking about Grand Mufti Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh. He was appointed in June 1999, serving islam most of his life and was appointed to a seat of leadership as early as 1969. We can therefor clearly see that he knows all levels of Islam (as I personally see this) and for a person like this to speak out against the acts of Hamas is a first sign that the days of Hamas are numbered. You see, they cannot hide behind islam with their hatred of jews to such a degree that clear sounds come from one of the most conservative Islam places for those people to speak out against Hamas. I might not phrase it in the best ways, but as I see it Hamas is about to take a dive for their own mass hatred. When other Islamic clerics follow the words of Grand Mufti Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh, Gaza’s and Hamas will only be able to rely on the scraps that Iran will give them and they have problems of their own now. As I see it the pro Gaza rallies everywhere will dry up and those who rallied for Gaza will have to investigate their own souls and face their own anti-semitic side of things.
I got the initial setting from Mr. Noor Dahri, he is the Founder and Executive Director of Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism – ITCT, a UK based Counter Islamist Terrorism Think Tank. He is an independent researcher in Counter Islamist Terrorism and Radicalisation. And it is important that we see this, there is a larger context in the acts of Hamas, especially as even islamics are opposing their action. When the dust settles Hamas will have but one recourse, to let go all the Jewish captives they still have and when the second hurdle is passed and optionally the bulk will have been killed there are two settings. The first is that Israel will go insane with rage (which is really bad for all Gaza) and the more important side is that Islam kill turn against Hamas, making them useless to say the least.
But beyond what could be and what is, is the clear voice of Grand Mufti Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh who gave us “What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah.” The one voice of reason that all people could and themselves behind. Muslims, Christians and Jews. It might be the first time a setting like this happens and recognizing this is essential. Even for a simple blogger like me. We can all hide behind populistic hate and numbers in a blog, but that was never my setup. And seeing the voice of reason is essential, no matter the faith he belongs to.
Have a nice Saturday and an optional really lazy Sunday to come.
We know it, we know it very well and we have known about it for 30 years. In the 90’s it was always about getting more revenue and the American companies ignored the fact that markets could get saturated. It was always about getting than next quarter and that 5% more. But the setting on what it was based on was forever ‘changing’ so they could base more on it and for a while that was OK, business was good. But after 10 years you would be doing twice the amount, getting close to twice the leads that your sales pipeline required to have to get the numbers. That is what we ruffled under the carpets but if you got there after 5 years you would be management (and useless to some), but you ‘knew’ the markets. As such I looked at the article at the Khaleej Times (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/realty/dubai-property-market-to-peak-in-2025-prices-for-high-end-villas-to-stabilise) where we get ‘Dubai property market to peak in 2025? Prices for high-end villas to stabilise’ with the extra line “However, many industry executives foresee the real estate market maintaining good growth in 2025 due to sustained demand and the gap between supply and demand.” And it is followed by “Going forward, ValuStrat sees Dubai’s residential market maintaining its upward trajectory in 2025, though at a slower pace, supported by economic growth, rising demand, positive sentiment, and increasing market maturity.” You see, all this is probably (I am not a Emirati real estate mogul, Mohamed Alabbar is). And I created IP (based on what I read in Emirati publication) to add to that pool. So I didn’t create something to replace whatever was, I gave my skull the exercise to create a new channel. At that time Real estate was “I speculated was “an additional stage that would bring more than Dh680 million.” This is not a massive growth, this would be the impact if my solution brought a mere 1% to that table. Anything more and it becomes a serious amount of money.” All things are done in baby steps. How large it would grow was dependent on the application and for me? I reckon that a simple 3% of that revenue would suffice, would you sneer at an income exceeding 20.4 million dirham per quarter? And that was merely Dubai, once operational, the IP would be many times the investment. It was based on another piece of IP I had designed and it had much larger ramifications. Dubai showed me the impact of adding this sales channel to the larger places where it cold matter, London, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York all places where metropolitan saturation was seen. And the forward thinking person had the idea to try and invest in an additional channel would create a wave. Would it work? I believe it would as nearly all Real Estate did the feel and the growth based on one another’s idea. This was a completely new take on selling property. And that is where I was in January 8th 2024 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/01/08/one-side-of-business/) the idea was created almost a year before that and it included smartwear that in conjunction of this IP could change the interaction between retailers and consumers. So in January 2024 I saw the article showing me the strides that people like Mohamed Alabbar and Hussain Sajwani made in the United Arab Emirates and when I created the initial IP (for shops) I was focussed on shops. Then I saw the wider application of one side and of course the impact that one foot of commerce could make and now that saturation is coming into play my idea resurfaces in my mind and is still seeing the added pool of revenue. Perhaps the added pool is not the right words, the additional channel of access that is created for consumers.
As such I reckon that people like these two in this field are looking for ways to keep the call for properties higher for a longer time, which would be perfectly normal.
As such saturation was not an obstacle, it was a moment to show what more could be possible and it is not a replacement setting, it was a way to make a larger appeal to people on the spot. “This is a nice place, is anything for sale here? Where could I live? Can I live here now?” Al questions a real estate consumer has, and now the setting comes at their fingertips.
That was just another moment of creative innovation on the fly and now I added a new sales channel to a formidable group tycoons who could expand their universal territory.
What a creative lived we could lead when you let your imagination run free. It was based on what retailers could get in the Internet of things and now it gives Real Estate an extension towards the saturation point. Not a bad day. I earned my muffin for breakfast today. Don’t forget to have fun today.
What I foresaw is now coming to pass in more than one way. ECNS China gives us ‘Saudi Arabia aims to attract up to 5 million Chinese tourists by 2030’ there was always a shift coming and as we see it, Saudi Arabia becomes more and more driven to see what the Chinese markets can deliver. We saw this last week in the Saudi Tourism Festival held in Beijing on Oct 17, 2024. We are given “Saudi Minister of Tourism and Chairman of the Saudi Tourism Authority Ahmed Al-Khateeb said that Saudi Arabia is China-ready and welcomes all Chinese travellers with increased connectivity, customised products and strategic partnerships.” Now some of you will respond with ‘so what?’ And that might be fair in one way. But this number represents a much larger issue. As I see it, one third is goal driven tourism. People will decide on Saudi Arabia as a destination for a job, or as a cheap tourism destination. Two third will go as tourist with optional goals, but these three million tourists will go to Saudi Arabia and not to their ‘normal’ destinations. That will show in diminished numbers all over Europe (France, England, Spain and Italy) and America. These people will also attract optional tourists who will change their initial destination. The other 2 million will optionally retrench their optional ‘cheap labor’ destination from Australia and places like the Netherlands, Belgium and the nordic countries. You will think that it does not matter, but consider all these coffee places that ‘allowed’ for these people, optionally in other areas too. They will come short of their usual numbers. These tourists also spend all they earn in that country. As such there will be a shift, an initial shift that seems small but could grow over time. These 5 million will spend their money somewhere else (in Saudi Arabia) and that facilitates to more, it always does. You might not think much of this, but the Saudi job market is booming. There are (allegedly) at present a little over 10,000 jobs outstanding. A fair deal are out reach of a lot of them, but consider this job “Digital Marketing Specialist. Average Salary: SAR 9,500-35,000 per month” and consider that they have the Beijing University of Technology and over a dozen more universities where these young crackers would like to see options in their first 2 years. They have just graduated University, they have spend almost every waking hour working on digital solutions like TikTok, broadcast experience and on the other hand we see places like Huawei making waves in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. These two places will see an increase of Chinese workers with an option to fulfil their dream a lot faster, so yes, Saudi Arabia will become a swing location for these people. All options that are shutting doors on Europe, Australia and America.
We are also given “the country is preparing to launch its winter season tourism attractions, which will provide a range of experiences filled with entertainment, luxury, adventure and natural beauty, running from October to May” Now consider that Oxagon, Trojena, Magna and Sindalah now suddenly will have a grasp of a thousand more affordable workers, bringing both a digitally active workforce as well as language skills to their regions. Yes, the cheaper groups will also infuse the wealth group from China to their shores because these people will encounter others with their language skills. As such the people who depend on these rich tourists will endure a lessened impact as they will all want to go to the newest places in Saudi Arabia. I reckon that in the 5,000,000 people will be at least 500,000 people who are beyond well-off and they will go to Saudi Arabia in the space of 2026-2028 (at least) and that is a kick to the heads of economy in the aforementioned countries. The top 1% of wealthy Chinese who are making over $80,000 are expected to spend that money in Saudi Arabia. And I am referring to the people who would have spend their cash in London, Paris and Orlando. Merely these three places will see a drop of income in the next few years. So how much more is needed? You might think that the small setting of “France is the most visited country within Europe, attracting an impressive 81,411,000 foreign sightseers each year”, but that would not be entirely correct. It includes all nations, including Europeans and a bunch of them will be attracted to Saudi luxury as well and consider that 1% is still 814,110, even if they merely lose 1%, that amounts to quite the drain on revenue and that is in part already heading towards Saudi Arabia. Already we are seeing messages on Free tourist visas, the one element that partially blocks choices is in the process of being removed. And all this is piling up against Europe and America. All whilst we were given ‘Tourism trips by residents of EU in 2023 up close to 6% y/y’ we ignore the drop that a mere 1% drop wouldn’t be much, but these tourists have beckoned billions in investments all over Europe and now I expect to see the Chinese drop as well as the ‘local’ tourists now dialling Saudi Arabia for their upcoming destination. Add to that whatever business bookings we see and you know these sales types, how they like to be known to go to new and luxurious destinations, the punch packing trips all over Saudi Arabia will be handing several body blows to Europe (America as well). We might merely see that the effort is on 5,000,000 Chinese tourists. But the overall impact will be a lot higher. That is the one part that everyone forgets about. The overly large population of tourists can only spend their money once or perhaps twice a year and the appeal of Saudi Arabia is overwhelming with at least three locations appealing to a lot of tourists. Add to this Riyadh and the impact of Saudi tourism will be felt in most of the tourist places of Europe and America. I reckon that if Disney and Universal sets a theme park in these places the damage will be near complete. Not a mere 2-3 years. But an impact over the next decade at least. Whatever we think of these parks in Orlando, they are overpacked and soon there will be an alternative of the same making. We see (at present) “With over 58 million annual tourist visits, Disney World averages approximately 159,000 visitors per day across all its parks” as well as “In 2023, 10 million tourists visited Islands of Adventure, a decrease of 9%” and consider that these two places could lose close to 15% more, people that have had enough of these massive queues and they want an alternative. Well Warner Brothers is already seeing an increasing populous enjoying Abu Dhabi and I reckon that these are all people contemplating Saudi Arabia as an optional destination.
Tourist destinations in Europe and America will see the need to tighten their belts. And this is not new. I floated the idea on September 27th 2023 in ‘As the belt tightens’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/09/27/as-the-belt-tightens/) so this is not news to me. I saw it coming a mile away (well, actually a year ago), and that is all before the glamour of Vision 2030 hits the tourists on the retina. I think I made my case 2 times over and the impact should be seen all over Europe in the time 2026-2028, after that? That depends how Saudi Arabia plays it cards. I made one other prediction (presumption) on what would be needed and that could put Europe and America in a bind, they either invest and make ready for 2025 or they might lose a lot more.
Have a great day and contemplate the view from the Aedas ski resort. Can America match that view? Now consider that Saudi Arabia could simultaneous hit 5-10 tourist attractions at the same time in 2026.
OK, I admit that the word seemingly does not exist (at present), but it could be. It reflects on our needs to get things done in a rush, a setting that invites a congestive setting, usually in traffic. A bottleneck setting if you like. That is what the Khaleej Times (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/transport/uae-traffic-would-an-odd-even-scheme-help-ease-peak-hour-jams) sets with ‘UAE traffic: Would an ‘odd-even scheme’ help ease peak-hour jams?’ Invites to. There is an even less nice issue that those who can afford 2 cars can take turns with car they would use.
In the dozen of so images I saw, there was one stage that did not show its nice little snout. It is the setting that one lane is reserved for busses (and emergency vehicles). Not in all the images I saw is there a bus lane showing. I know too little about Dubai to know how (or if) bus lanes are used. But that is a first that came to mind. That setting might nudge more and more car drivers to public transport. And as far as I know Dubai public transportation is really good and a lot more affordable than either Sydney or London (the one in the UK). They already have a great subway system (I saw it on YouTube), but bus lanes might be a nice stage as well. And the second part is that if you are in that traffic jam for a few hour and you see bus after bus passing you by, the inner drive to get the bus might increase. I know it is not a complete solution, but if congestion decreases by a mere 10%, it could be seen as an ad-hoc solution for Dubai and Abu Dhabi (not sure if they have a congestion problem at present). Dubai has at present a little over 3.6 million people, as such it is not the most dense city (not by a long shot) but it has a decent population. And in the United Arab Emirates with 10 million people. 40% is in Dubai and 40% is in Abu Dhabi, as such a solution for both seems essential. My personal favourite would be the bus lanes to show the car users that public transportation in some cases would be preferred (by the people) and it would grant emergency services a lane in case of congestion. That two birds and one stone symbolism. The fact that public transport is already a good option in the UAE might drive the bus lane option faster. I get that some would like to relax in the traffic jam sitting cozy in a Rolls Royce Spectre, Bugatti whatever, or a Ferrari thingamajig. But there are only so many people who could even afford one of these three bad boys. And with (additional) busses in the mix, congestion might soon be a thing of the past. And when people arrive at work refreshed from the bus ride.
The equation seemingly solves additional problems as well. A simple setting to an overly complex problem as I see it. Will it solve all? I doubt it, but if it lowers congestion, the real question becomes, is the problem solved to an adequate level? That is the question that lingers. And the solution lies in creating two additional lanes (one for each direction) on one road where there is enough congestion. I think that it is a solution worth exploring. If it isn’t a solution, that part of the road ends up with two additional lanes. Optional an additional path to lowering congestion.
Well, that is my Saturday with an optional solution set on paper. Now just one more thing to work on today. Have a great weekend.
This started some time ago and today things started to mesh up in my mind and it got started with the movie Gods of Egypt, I watched it again this evening. The setting is not one could debate the reality of things (as one could consider), but there is the crux. What is real?
You see, this is the question that I have often asked myself and this week a few things happened that calls an old idea into power.
You see, Ubisoft did most of the work and AC Origins set it in motion. When you get the addition on the game, you also got a tour you had to complete, visiting a brewery that makes beer and a few other places, places that were in the game and now Ubisoft added a tour to show the players how far they had taken the game. It was brilliant and some will find it boring. Yet it could be taken further and in part based on their own IP.
You see, what else could be done?
There are two settings here. The Egyptian side gives the people the option of polytheism, the believe of multiple gods. The game could take you on a trip as a diverse amount of people in Egypt and take you on a trip of worshiping the gods like the Egyptians used to do this. We could limit the player to be in Memphis, Alexandria, Letopolis and a few others. The second site is the Roman side, with a Roman farm, the ability to learn Latin, set this part to Latin and as we are thrown into the deep end we learn a language and there is a market, more importantly as Ubisoft already created the IP, it would be a simple alteration to the game to engage in languages (Egyptian and Latin) and here you are no hero, you could be a roman legionnaire, a scribe, a farmer or a slave. We saw the impact of it in all kinds of TV series, but that is the story told us. So what would it be to live it? And that is only the beginning. At some point Ubisoft will create a Unreal Engine 5 transfer making it as lively as possible and there we could use these programs to educate. And Ubisoft has the IP to make larger changes to programs like AC Mirage and add Arabic to the fold.
Now some people might think that this seems boring and yes. It is not a slice and dice game, but it is IP that exists and could get a double function. You see as people ‘return’ to learning the classical languages they will also increase several other languages Spanish, Italian all have a grounding from Latin and in this day and age, we need more to keep us busy. There is only so many time that you can chase a Pokemon, or kill the masses in a race car. To give people something more will soon be the only way. The people and the gamers want more. I have nothing against Elden Ring or games of that nature, but how long can you play these games? And here Ubisoft clearly has the upper hand. They created such treasures from the old days. The renaissance, Egypt, Native America, Victorian London, Paris and a few other places. They have the materials, so why not employ the powers to use them for education? For me and many others Egypt have held sway on us and there we get two settings. In the first the Egyptians and in the second degree the romans. The second one could be set to the area of Pissa Oros Citadel. Where you have to complete several ‘tasks’ whilst you optionally do it all in latin (an optional advanced setting). And now (either as Egyptian or Roman) you do it without any assassin skills.
Will it be successful? I believe it will and with the IP already made by Ubisoft, there would be a case to see it happen.
Am I right? I don’t know, but the idea to learn ancient Greek, Latin or Egyptian is immensely appealing and I know there are more who find it appealing. There is whole group on Twitter (still refusing to call it X) with the notion to lean Latin, with a few thousand members.
Just a thought to get through the day, it’s Thursday here now.
I was daydreaming and all of a sudden a thought came to me. A thought that I could add too Engonos, not now, hence I write elements here. I am still working on Residuam Vitam and that might take some time. I am still in Season 2 of Engonos even though the main lines until season 3 are in my head. You see, I thought on a vengeance streak. Hades is as strict as they come and in Season two Engonos get waves of that sternness overwhelming him. This is where I have a few issues. You see in a video game in the 80’s or 90’s (on the CBM64 or CBM Amiga) I was introduced to the Hand of Glory. Later I looked it up and it came from 1722 a Freemason (i think) called Petit Albert had referred to it.
So in ‘my’ version the Engonos is betrayed by a con-artist and even though he did everything according to the rules (because the con-man had the bank and police assisting him). He loses his new apartment in Toronto. This gets me too: “never call for more demons than you can put down”.
And as such Engonos needs to reset his wealth but now raging in anger he does something no one thought possible. He harvests the souls and the organs of their children. The souls for himself and the organs to sell on the black market. Within a week everyone is in panic. They do not know where to look and they do not know where to find the children. In the mean time Engonos is gaining wealth. Within a month children are gone ad the perpetrators of the swindle are dead. The dead are harvested for hands of glory (which are really well received by other criminals). At some point someone finds a missing clue (haven’t worked that one out yet) and the police as well as organised crimes are looking out for him. He has however skipped a few places and with some countries with their banking laws in place Engonos has quadrupled the wealth he had and he moved his house to Jeddah as well as his apartment in London.
The in-between bit like the harvesting of organs need a little more work in my mind and also setting the case of harvesting the body parts and elements of making the human candles for the hands require some more work in my mind. The idea that came to me was that with al the riots and looting in the UK and the USA, a stage where these people could be scared to near death might be worth exploring. Hades is not evil, but in his strictness lawbreaker and thieves have no right in his vision. That would be worth exploring and the thousands of shopkeepers that have been hurt by these looters could watch a bit of TV rejoicing that there is a reality where they do not get to escape their toll.
It still needs more work, but I got this inside of two hours and I have more to add later on. A solid ‘side-quest’ to season 2. London had over 1100 victims (mostly small businesses) in Los Angeles it was a lot worse due to “under Proposition 47 (2014) as entering a commercial establishment with intent to steal property valued at less than $950 during business hours—failed to reveal evidence of increases until 2022, when the state saw a 28.7% jump from the unusually low rates of the pandemic years. Even after this sizeable increase, the shoplifting rate in California remains 8% below its pre-pandemic level” by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) gives a rather large chunk of ideas especially as Engonos has a residence in Los Angeles as well. There 1,500 could go amiss and no one would care. Ideas on how to create a slaughter fest.
Perhaps I can get a lot more out of this over season 2.
Well, that’s it for me (for now). Perhaps I will get lucky and dream some more.
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 