Romanian real estate developer Dragoş Dobrescu and his partner George Toader announced on December 4 plans to build a €1bn entertainment complex north of Bucharest, Ziarul Financiar reported on February 10. The project, named DraculaLand, will include a theme park, a shopping mall and several hotels, and will feature its own metaverse and digital coin.

The scheme marks the second attempt to capitalise on the Dracula brand after former Minister of Tourism Dan Matei Agathon launched a similarly named project in Sighişoara in 2009, which was abandoned due to insufficient investor interest.

DraculaLand is planned to cover 160 hectares, situated twenty minutes from Bucharest and fifteen minutes from Otopeni Airport.

The investors said the concept and master plan were developed with an international team of specialists in architecture, engineering, finance and innovation. They indicated that the project is designed as a mixed-use destination combining leisure infrastructure with digital components.

“Dracula Outlet Mall was conceived as a social catalyst, active throughout the day – a place not just for shopping, but for living, meeting and sharing experiences. From the beginning, it was clear that DraculaLand is not just a real estate project, but a cultural statement: a place where architecture, technology, creativity and lifestyle meet in a way rarely seen in Europe,” said Gino Garbellini, founding partner of urban planning studio Piuarch Milano.

The project bears similarities to the Nibiru concept created by content creator Andrei Selaru (Selly) on the Black Sea coast, which expanded from his already successful Beach Please! music festival into a broader entertainment development.

In parallel with the physical infrastructure, DraculaLand is being designed with a dedicated metaverse built in Unreal Engine 5. According to the developers, this “digital twin” will allow users worldwide to explore and interact with the virtual destination.

The metaverse will incorporate DraculaCoin, the ecosystem’s native digital token intended for use in both online and on-site environments. It will also include NFT-based ownership systems, rewards programmes and artificial intelligence-driven personalisation tools enabling each user to develop a unique avatar and narrative.