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Dubai welcomes the world |
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12/16/2006 8:37:14 AM |
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Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) is one of the richest festivals in the world offering a wide range of shopping, winning and entertainment options. Whether it is purchase-based coupons, luxury cars or gold raffles, there is plenty and more to be won.
It’s celebration time again. The mega show — the combined special edition of the 11th and 12th Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2006 – 2007, (the shopping extravaganza) — will run from December 20, 2006 to February 2, 2007. With a whopping budget of Dh90 million, the festival promises 45 days of fun and entertainment, bargains and sales, raffles and promotions.
Says Mohammed Al Nabouda, CEO, DSF: “With this edition of DSF, a new era is about to unfold. While we offer retrospective glimpses of the 10 previous editions combining the best of the best, the new one promises to be even bigger and better. And at the core of it all is shopping, winning and entertainment.”
Since its inception in 1996, the DSF concept has been growing each year. DSF 2005 had 3.3 million visitors registering a six per cent increase while spending crossed Dh6.67 billion registering a 15 per cent increase over the previous year.
This year DSF has already put the city on double celebration mode. Colourful lights adorn bridges and lampposts. Huge advertisements vie for attention. Raffle offers entice those who wish to try out Lady Luck. There is an air of expectancy as each day unfolds and 40 shopping malls and over 3,000 outlets get ready to welcome shoppers.
In this combo edition of DSF, watch out for enhanced promotional campaigns, valuable prizes and lots of surprises. Participate in the amazing DSF bonanzas in the automotive, electronics and retail sectors. That’s not all; keep track of the adrenaline-driven mix of entertainment events.
”DSF is expected to break previous records. Living the core theme, ‘One World. One Family. One Festival,’ DSF has 100 events supported by 27 key sponsors and $25 million up for grabs. However, the overall theme revolves around ‘A World of Festivals’ a mix of over a dozen festivals,” adds Laila Suhail, Chief Marketing Officer, DSF.
They are World Cultures Festival, Family Entertainment Festival, Art and Culture Festival, Musical Festival, Dubai Fashion Festival, the Sports Festival, Food Festival, Records Breaking Festival, Heritage Festival, Shopping Malls Festival and the Raffles and Winnings Festival.
Laila notes, “Once again we have set high standards for DSF, with a new approach and a diversified calendar of events that has several events to meet the requirements of different nationalities and age groups. We are expecting 3.6 million visitors this year. We have opened the way for a new era of organising festivals emphasising on Dubai’s leading role as a regional hub for tourism and family shopping with its state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities.”
The ranking of DSF as a world-class festival is in many ways a manifestation of the active participation of the people, a continuous success realised thanks to the unwavering support of the rulers of the country and close co-operation between the government and private sector.
Nabouda adds: “A good example is the Dubai Festival City that opened on December 14. Hats off to Al Futtaim for this totally private project that enhances the vision of Dubai. This year’s DSF will focus on ‘New Dubai’, as the festival in its new reinvented form widens its horizons and extends to magnificent venues like the Mall of the Emirates and Ibn Battuta Mall which have become shopping resorts.”
Elaborating on the opening ceremony he added that on the evening of December 20 the sky would be the stage as Dubai witnesses one of the grandest celebrations with a Night Glow spectacle. Sixty hot-air balloons will illuminate the night sky at Dubailand. “The joint opening of DSF and Dubai Balloons Festival will surely be a sight to behold especially the Opening Hour Celebration,” he said.
All activities will culminate in a dazzling display of fireworks from Global Village, the Dubai Creek and the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) setting Dubai skies aglow in a scintillating interplay of light and colour.
Having experienced DSF for the past several years, one often wonders about the mammoth preparation involved in organising an event of this scale and magnitude. The DSF Organising Committee is made up of 20 different government departments. According to the organisers, preparations for the next festival start as soon as one gets over. High-level DSF delegations have been holding road shows in GCC countries and abroad inviting residents to visit Dubai and experience for themselves the new concept of DSF.
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