Paddy Dunning – CEO and founder of the company behind The Giant – has spoken at length about the upcoming project, detailing the good that each giant will give back to the community and revealing possible locations for a UK version of the attraction.

The Giant – which comprises a multi-storey sculpture mounted on a plinth housing a museum – has been pitched as “the visitor attraction for the 21st Century”. Coming first to Berlin in 2017, The Giant is expected to draw around 500,000 visitors each year, generating annual revenues of around €12m (US$12.7m, £8.4m). Each version of the attraction will cost between €10-30m (US$10.6-32m, £7-21m) to develop, depending on location and size of giant, which is variable.

The concept itself has been in development for a number of years. Dunning – who founded the Temple Lane Recording Studios in Dublin where famous musicians including Michael Jackson, Sir Tom Jones and REM among others have recorded some of their hit albums – unveiled the grand concept officially at IAAPA in November 2015.

“The idea was conceived from the book Gulliver’s Travels, that’s what sparked The Giant.” said Dunning speaking exclusively to Attractions Management.

“What we’ve done in the last three years of design is transform a sculpture into a multi-storey statue which will be able to transform itself into any person. We have a running theme which is ‘awakening the giant in you’. It’s fun, it’s educational, it’s intriguing. We hope that each giant will celebrate the great and good of each city.”

With part of the theme of the unique visitor attraction being unlocking humankind’s giant potential, not only will each giant act as a source of entertainment but also as a source of education, with a scholarship fund being set up in each giant’s name for local teenagers. Known as The Giant Foundation, the charity will be funded through donations from the visitor attraction itself, in addition to contributions from private, public and corporate sponsors.

“We wanted to give back to the community,” said Dunning. “The Giant is a good giant, so for kids having problems either with financing themselves through college or educating themselves, we are going to identify who is in need and sponsor them. We’re going to be linking up with academia in each city to do that. We also run courses ourselves in sound, stage production, lighting and theatre so we can actually give our own scholarships to people.

“Each giant will have its own character and name. We want the giant to be giving the scholarship, not me, not anybody else, the giant. He or she can deliver these educational courses. It a unique thing. There’s not many visitor attractions around the world that are giving back like this."

Dunning’s Giant Company is currently in discussions to bring giants to Amsterdam, Istanbul, New Orleans and San Francisco, as well as locations in Russia, Australia and Mexico.

“We’re also looking for a site in England and we’re currently scoping out the best location,” Dunning exclusively revealed to Attractions Management. “We’d love to do something on the river in London but there are also options in the north in places like Manchester for example.”