Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre

IPW… recently advised on the feasibility of a series of facility development options for Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre. The Tennis Centre, including the 5,000 capacity stadium/ centre court, has been home to The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for 30 years, with annual ATP 500 and WTA 1000 tour events as well as hosting a range of other shows. Dubai Duty Free, as proud owners and organisers of one of the most popular and competitive events on the world circuit, were keen to explore opportunities to deliver new facilities that satisfy the ATP and WTA’s requirements and deliver a quality visitor experience for all guests.

Leading a team including our partners BDP Pattern and Turner & Townsend, our work included significant research and stakeholder engagement and analysis of a series of development options to present a high-level view on the financial and qualitative considerations associated with each, identifying an overall preferred option and a series of alternatives.

We subsequently oversaw the preparation of the Design Brief, particularly focused on the overall hospitality mix (offers, capacities and price points) and its incorporation alongside new facilities for GA fans. We also developed and prepared a detailed business plan for the preferred option, based on extensive research and national and international benchmarking across tennis and other events. Our P&L projections incorporated a series of scenarios to understand potential performance sensitivities. The projections were prepared iteratively to align with the developing design solution (taken to RIBA Stage 2 by BDP Pattern) together with a costing exercise to inform the client’s affordability analysis.

We have continued to support Dubai Duty Free through its analysis of a range of opportunities linked to the ATP and WTA events.