Renowned futurist and screenwriter Gene Roddenberry brought to the world the fascinating futuristic concept of a space based naval fleet headed by U.S.S Enterprise in the form of the iconic Star Trek series. This space age franchise spawned a plethora of television series, movies and memorabilia. Now, one of most progressive nations in the Middle East, Jordan, is all set to receive a major Star Trek inspired theme park that has now secured a funding of a staggering $1.5 billion. The Red Sea Astrarium project (TRSA) project is scheduled to begin construction in the early months of the year 2012 and this magnificent theme park will be located in Aqaba. The entire project is being funded by investors from the U.S and other Gulf countries. This one of a kind Star Trek theme park will take the visitors through the history of the franchise that helped it claim a cult like following from millions of fans across the globe.
The Rubicon Group Holding in Amman has taken the responsibility to design and develop entertainment features for the resort while the firm hasn’t contributed financially to the construction of the TRSA project. This remarkable projects envisions the development of a resort style theme park that will be inclusive of hotels, theatres, dining and shopping venues. Furthermore, Paramount Pictures will also be lending its expertise by offering to create the ‘Star Trek’ attraction via its Paramount Recreation division. The design aspect of the TSRA will be managed by the architectural firm, Callison, while the project’s construction will be taken care of by the engineering firm Arup.
According to Randa Ayoubi (CEO, Rubicon Group Holding),
“Jordan has a lot to offer and we have never really as a country capitalized on it well enough. There’s no ‘Brand Jordan’ out there. We need to work on that – getting the brand out there, telling people what’s on offer.â€
Via Hotelier Middle East     Â
