There is a reason competitive socialising is on the rise… and it is not about darts, bowling, or immersive entertainment! People are craving connection, real connection. The kind that gets harder to find when so much of life revolves around screens, remote work and passive consumption.

For a long time, the leisure and hospitality industry has been driven by novelty. The focus was often on creating the next big attraction, the next immersive experience, or the next destination people would travel to once, photograph, post online and move on from

Across the Middle East and MENA, mixed-use developments are entering a new phase of maturity. For the past two decades, retail has been the commercial backbone of destination development. Leasing strategies, investment models, and even design decisions were built around the assumption that retail would drive footfall, and everything else would follow. 

The Middle East is increasingly a global hub for brands and concepts with a strong, mainly well-travelled residential market that has been underserved alongside high-volume tourist destinations.

ProForma and I have worked with a number of key developers in the region over the last few years, across projects ranging from fully master planned sites, to leisure options within mall environments, to large scale anchor attractions with hotels attached.

Across the Middle East, the scale and ambition of location-based entertainment continues to accelerate. Developers are increasingly looking to create destinations that attract both international tourists and repeat local audiences, often within highly competitive mixed-use environments.

Within this context, intellectual property (IP) has become a central strategic consideration. From globally recognised film franchises to established entertainment brands, IP is often seen as a way to reduce risk, accelerate awareness and drive footfall from day one.

Over the past decade, the Middle East has become one of the most ambitious markets in the world for location-based entertainment. Across the GCC in particular, governments and developers are investing heavily in immersive attractions, themed environments and large-scale entertainment districts as part of broader tourism and diversification strategies.

On February 28^th2026, the world changed in the Middle East, peoples lives were interrupted by booms from anti- missile launchers, jet planes overhead, alarms on their phones and stay in place orders. As I write this, the new normal continues, but having lived in the Middle East for nearly 20 years, I feel safe but also more importantly as happened after Covid, the April 2024 floods, and other regional events, through the chaos and crisis in region it has always been met by clear plans, continuing status quo and progression; a way forward that is focused. We in region know it will rebound safer, stronger and better.