AquaFun, Dubai holds the honour of being the world's largest water park. But what's an even bigger reason for Emaratis to be proud is that it has also been awarded a Guinness World Record for being anchored in the Gulf waters directly across from JBR Beach.
AquaFun is extremely special for Emaratis because it's built in the shape of Dubai's official logo. The water park combines the words I ❤️ Dubai and I ❤️ Expo 2020 Dubai in English and Arabic which is also visible from the sky. The water park which first opened in 2016 has now grown to a total area of 42,400 square metres.
Ahmed opens up about his purpose behind making such a lavish water park and how he wanted to contribute to people's happiness. Talking about the same, he says, "Just because we grow up doesn't mean we can't have fun,"
During an interview with Out & About Magazine, Ahmed talked about his purpose and said, "I asked myself one day, what is the purpose of this business? It's creating happy memories, that's the core of it." He recalled an incident, "We had a visitor before who thanked and talked to me for half an hour because of his son, who's autistic and never been in the water before. They were able to have a bonding moment in the water park because his son is no longer afraid of the water. Seeing that smile etched onto people's faces and the positive energy in the park, with people thanking me for having an awesome time—that's success for me."
You understand the beauty of Ahmed Ben Chaibah's thoughts upon learning how he himself was going through an extremely rough phase of his life when the idea came to his mind. Following serious back injury years back, Ahmed was thinking about making the most of his time. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he decided to create a new version of himself. This is when he came up with the idea to create a business which would work around his physical restrictions at that time.
"Having made the decision to embark on an entrepreneurial journey, I started thinking of various business ideas. Then I recalled two events, the first of which was a yacht party where I was bored and wished there had been more to do," he said while talking to Arabian Business in 2016.
"The second was a conversation I overheard on the beach one day when a parent was talking about how they wished that there was some sort of activity that could keep kids safely entertained on the beach so they could enjoy some peace and quiet. I immediately started researching and looking for companies that built inflatables and could implement the ideas I had. That is where it all started from," he added.
Ahmed Ben Chaibah plans to continue his momentum in the coming years as well. Sharing a beautiful thought he says, "Being an Emarati we always learned from our leaders if we, not the best, first or biggest why bother, so that mindset was always there for me, shoot at the moon if you miss you will land on the stars,"
