Developers for the London Resort claim the project will add $68.38bn to the UK economy over the next 25 years Once permission has been granted, construction will begin in 2022, with the first phase scheduled to open in 2024 DUBAI: The London Resort, a $2.6-billion, high-profile theme park development backed by Kuwaiti money, has applied for planning permission from the British government, claiming the project will add £50 billion ($68.38 billion) to the UK economy over the next 25 years. The project was launched in October 2012 by the London Resort Company Holdings and is backed by the Kuwaiti European Holding Group. Located on a 535-acre site on Kent’s Swanscombe peninsula, 17 minutes on the train from Central London, it has struck content agreements with international media partners, including the BBC, ITV Studios and Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures. The deals will see the partners’ media brands transformed into theme park rides and attractions. Once permission has been granted, construction will begin in 2022, with the first phase scheduled to open in 2024. The theme park will be the first major project of its kind in Europe since Disneyland Paris opened in 1992. The application, consisting of more than 25,000 pages of reports, was submitted on Dec. 31, 2020. The studies within the application claim that the project will add £50 billion of gross value added (GVA) economic activity to the UK economy over the first 25 years, and will create about 6,000 construction jobs and 48,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2038. Chief Executive PY Gerbeau said: “I arrived at this project 18 months ago and it has been non-stop ever since. We have revived, reviewed, and reprogrammed the entire venture. This will be so much more than just a theme park.” The studies for the project are based on figures from Disneyland Paris, which added €68 billion ($82.80 billion) to the French economy in the 25 years since opening. In an interview with Arab News in November, James Hayward, investment director at London-based investment brokerage Farrbury Capital Partners, said that the project had attracted a lot of interest from Middle Eastern investors. “Generally speaking, those whom we’ve spoken to have been of Middle Eastern origin,” he said. “We still have healthy investment in the UK, although I would also say those who invest from the UK have been predominantly of Middle Eastern descent. It is very, very popular in this neck of the woods. So that’s predominantly where we are seeing investment coming from,” he said.