Yas Island

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This article is about the manmade island. For the natural island, see Sir Bani Yas.
View of Yas Island

Yas Island (Arabic: جزيرة ياس‎) is an island in Abu Dhabi, UAE.[1]

The island’s development project was initiated in 2006 by Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties, with the aim of turning the island into a multi-purpose leisure, shopping and entertainment center at an estimated total cost of over billion.[clarification needed] This investment was planned as a multi-staged project to unfold in phases until 2018, with project stakeholders foreseeing the possibility of extending development by adding new venues and upgrading existing facilities.[2]

It occupies a total land area of 2,500 ha (25 km2), of which 1,700 ha will be claimed for development. Yas Island holds the Yas Marina Circuit, which has hosted the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since 2009.[2]

Both business and leisure travelers visit Yas Island. Yas Island was named the world's leading tourism project at the World Travel Awards in November 2009.[3]

Attractions[edit]

Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi[edit]

Main article: Ferrari World

The Park’s foundation stone was laid on 3 November 2007. The development was completed in a little under three years, opening to the public for the first time on November 2010.[4]

Formula Rossa, one of the park's most famous attractions, is the world’s fastest rollercoaster reaching a speed of 240 kph (149 mph).[5]

Yas Waterworld[edit]

Main article: Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi

Yas Waterworld Surf’s up! Bubbles' Barrel slide has the largest surf-able sheet wave surf in the world.

Yas Waterworld Awards and Nominations[edit]

  • Named the “second best waterpark in the world” by the Los Angeles Times - Global Ranking of the World’s Top 20 Waterparks feature in May 2013.[6]
  • Listed by CNN as one of the top 12 water parks in the world in July 2013.[7]
  • Won the World Travel Awards award for the Middle East’s Leading Tourist Attraction of the year 2013.[8]
  • Won the Leading Edge Award at the World Waterpark Association's Annual Show, in Las Vegas, USA in October 2012.[9]
  • The Bandit Bomber is the first rollercoaster to be incorporated into a waterpark and was ranked amongst the world’s newest, biggest and baddest roller coasters for the summer of 2013, by CNN.[10]

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi[edit]

Main article: Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi will be located on Yas Island near Ferrari World and Yas Waterpark and is being built by Miral Asset Management.[11] WB World would be organized into six theme lands, Gotham City, Metropolis, Cartoon Junction, Bedrock, Dynamite Gulch and Warner Bros Plaza. Gotham and Metropolis would be based on the cities of DC Comics super heroes Batman and Superman, respectively. Warner Bros.'s Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera cartoon libraries would be featured in Cartoon Junction and Dynamite Gulch except for Bedrock which features the Flintstones. Warner Bros Plaza would mimic the Hollywood of the past.[12] The park is expected to be open in 2018, making it the world's third Warner Bros. theme park.[11]

SeaWorld Abu Dhabi[edit]

Main article: SeaWorld Abu Dhabi

On December 13, 2016, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment announced a new partnership with Miral to bring SeaWorld Abu Dhabi to Yas Island. The park, which will be situated to the northeast of Ferrari World, is set to opened in 2020 and will be the first SeaWorld without orcas.[13][14]

Sports and Entertainment[edit]

Yas Marina Circuit[edit]

Main article: Yas Marina Circuit

The full circuit length is 5.554 km and can be configured in five different ways to accommodate a variety of motorsport events. Yas Marina Circuit is the only motorsports venue in the world that offers covered and shaded grandstands throughout the facility, coupled with pit lanes that run partially beneath the track.[15]

Other attractions[edit]

Three charter boat companies operate from Yas Marina namely Jalboot Marine, Captain Tony's and Azure Marine. Seawings operates flights to and from Dubai to Yas Marina and 20 minute Abu Dhabi tours from Yas Marina. [16]

Yas Links[edit]

Yas Links is a golf course designed by Kyle Philips, ranked 24th World’s best Golf courses outside the USA (Golf Digest USA, 2012). 1.8 million cubic metres of material were dredged to form the 18 Hole Championship Golf Course, Golf Club & Golf Shop, pool Area, air-conditioned swing studio and meeting and conference rooms for corporate events.[17]

Yas Beach[edit]

Mangrove Tours launch daily from Yas Beach also courtesy of Noukhada Adventure Company. [18]

du Live![edit]

du Live! is an entertainment venue.[19]

du Arena and Forum[edit]

The crowd at Bocelli's Concert in du Arena, Abu Dhabi, UAE in 2013
The crowd at Bocelli's concert at du Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE sponsored by du's entertainment platform du Live!

The "du Arena" (formerly known as the "Yas Arena" until June 2012[20]) is a large open-air concert venue located in Yas Bay. The venue opened in 2009, depending on configuration, the venue can hold up to 35,000. It is coined as the largest open air venue in the Middle East.

The rebranding preceded the first Madonna concert, part of her MDNA Tour, in the Arab region on 3 and 4 June 2012. du and Think Flash revamped the venue for Madonna’s concert, including building up a new 23m x 54m stage and developing a complex pyrotechnic and lighting system. Grass has been relaid, gravel removed, tarmac walkways laid down throughout the arena and a central public plaza area featuring merchandise, retail and entertainment has been installed.[21]

The arena has hosted many international musicians under the telecom’s entertainment platform du Live! in addition to Madonna, including the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Eric Clapton, Kylie Minogue, Shakira, Linkin Park, Nickelback, Eminem,Rihanna, Andrea Bocelli, Metallica, Kanye West, Sting, Creamfields dance music festival featuring DJs such as Tiesto, David Guetta and Armin Van Buuren.[22] Furthermore, the du Arena has also been the venue for the Middle East's first KCON event featuring various K-pop artists such as Bangtan Boys, Taeyeon of Girls' Generation, Cho Kyuhyun of Super Junior, Monsta X, Ailee, SS301, and Spica last March 25, 2016.[23]

The "du Forum" (formerly known as the "Flash Forum" until June 2012) is an indoor events venue. It seats up to 4,500. The venues are owned by Adler Properties and operated by Spectra.

The du World Music Festival[edit]

The du World Music Festival has been organized annually by du Live! and their partners since 2011. The first du World Music Festival took place at the Burj Khalifa Steps in Downtown Dubai and The Walk in JBR between 26 February to 25 March 2011, with performances by top-class artists from around the world such as Tamer Hosny, Mona Amarcha, Janet Kapuya, Mashrou’ Leila, Amit Chatterjee Alliance, Spongecola, Wust el Balad.

The second du World Music Festival took place also at the DownTown Burj Khalifa Steps, took place between 7–16 March 2012. Free and ticketed events included performances by Gabrielle, The Gipsy Kings, Amr Diab, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Stanley Clarke, Salif Keita, Sarah Geronimo, George Benson.

The third du World Music Festival took place between 22 March 2013 - 6 April 2013, and included famous names as Andrea Bocelli, Natalie Cole, Guns N’ Roses, Kadim Al Sahir, Amr Diab, Eraserheads, Sonu Nigam, Train, Frank Gambale, Papon among others. This edition included performances at the du Arena in Abu Dhabi, the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre in Dubai, and in Ras Al Khaimah.

Hotels[edit]

Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi[edit]

Yas Hotel Abu Dhabi is a five star hotel located on the Yas Marina and is the first hotel in world to be built over an F1 race circuit.

Yas Plaza Hotels[edit]

The six Yas Plaza hotels includes:

Transportation[edit]

Yas Express[edit]

Yas express Saadiyat route shuttle service is the latest route (launched July 1) which interlinks St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort and Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi with Yas Island’s attractions. Operating daily with 3 pickups in the morning and 3 drop offs in the afternoon, the shuttle service transports guests to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld, Yas Island. The afternoon service offers three pickups from Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, dropping visitors back to each of the respective resorts on Saadiyat.[24]

Retail[edit]

Yas Mall[edit]

Yas Mall is one of Abu Dhabi's largest malls, located close to IKEA. In January 2017, Forbes recognized Yas Mall as one of the top five shopping malls in Abu Dhabi.[25]

IKEA[edit]

IKEA Yas Island is the flagship store and first retail outlet to open on Yas Island. The 33,000sqm store with a total sales area of 19,150sqm is the largest IKEA store in the MENA region and includes a play area for kids.[26] Previously located within the Marina Mall complex, the store was moved to Yas Island primarily due to limited room for expansion.

ACE Hardware[edit]

The ACE Hardware Yas Island is the UAE’s second largest ACE Hardware store, with 5,200 square meters of retail space.[27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Yas island maps and directions". yasisland.ae. Retrieved 2013-11-12. 
  2. ^ a b "Yas Island leisure destination in Abu Dhabi". dubaifaqs.com. Retrieved 2013-11-12. 
  3. ^ "Yas Island named World's Leading Tourism Project". arabianbusiness.com. 2009-11-11. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  4. ^ "Ferrari World Abu Dhabi Grand Opening". ferrariworldabudhabi.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  5. ^ "World's Fastest roller coaster". ferrariworldabudhabi.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  6. ^ "Photos: 20 best water parks in the world". latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  7. ^ "12 of the world's best water parks". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  8. ^ "Middle East's Leading Tourist Attraction 2013". worldtravelawards.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  9. ^ "Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi takes home World Waterpark Association's inaugural Leading Edge Award - Yas Waterworld". yaswaterworld.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  10. ^ "Newest, biggest, baddest roller coasters for summer". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  11. ^ a b "Warner Bros. theme park in Abu Dhabi set to open in 2018". April 19, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2017. 
  12. ^ Lodderhose, Diana (April 25, 2017). "Warner Bros To Build Gotham City & Metropolis For B Abu Dhabi Theme Park". Deadline. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved April 27, 2017. 
  13. ^ "SeaWorld Announces Partnership with Miral to Develop SeaWorld Abu Dhabi". seaworldcares.com. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. Retrieved 13 December 2016. 
  14. ^ Pedicini, Sandra. "SeaWorld announces new theme park in the Middle East, with no orcas". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 13 December 2016. 
  15. ^ "ABOUT YAS MARINA CIRCUIT". yasmarinacircuit.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  16. ^ "Welcome to Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi". cnmarinas.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  17. ^ "Yas Links". yaslinks.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  18. ^ "Yas Beach". yasbeach.ae. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  19. ^ http://www.bi-me.com/main.phpid=51258&t=1
  20. ^ Olson, Mary-Louise (13 May 2012). "Yas Arena rebrands after deal with du". The National. Abu Dhabi Media. Retrieved 19 May 2017. 
  21. ^ http://www.arabianbusiness.com/du-arena-gets-revamp-for-madonna-concerts-458086.html
  22. ^ "du Live!". Du.ae. Retrieved 2016-02-25. 
  23. ^ "From Korea, with love: Our guide to KCON 2016 in Abu Dhabi - The National". 
  24. ^ "Yas Express". yasisland.ae. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  25. ^ "The Five Best Shopping Malls In Abu Dhabi". Retrieved 2017-01-08. 
  26. ^ "IKEA Yas Island". ikea.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
  27. ^ "Ace Hardware". aceuae.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17. 
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