JEDDAH, 14 December 2004 — Dubai, which boasts of 450 hotels and 40 shopping malls, expects over 3.2 million people to visit the annual Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), which celebrates its 10th anniversary next month.
“The celebration of its first decade is marked by huge discounts, gold and car raffles, a large number of street performances, carnivals and entertainment activities under the 10 destinations theme running throughout the festival,” DSF Chief Operations Officer Ibrahim Saleh told reporters on the sidelines of a road show held at Le Jeddah Meridien Hotel yesterday.
The DSF 2005 is scheduled from Jan. 12 to Feb. 12, he said hoping for a bigger turnout of visitors from Saudi Arabia as the festival coincides with the Haj holidays. “This is a major step in achieving the target of attracting 10 million visitors annually by 2010 under the directives of Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defense Minister Sheikh Mohammed ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum,” he added.
Saleh was accompanied by Capt. Omar Alshamsi, member of the DSF Organizing Committee and chief of the PR and protocol department at Dubai Naturalization and Residency Department, and Saeed Al-Mehairi, media and PR coordinator, aside from 20 representatives of top hotels and apartments, tourism and car rental companies who are offering deals for the festival.
He invited the regional media to participate in the DSF2005 Journalism Award that carries cash prizes and urged mothers and families to vie for the Ideal Mother and Family awards.
Carpet Oasis, Dubai Fashion, Aqua Fantasia Show, Dubai World of Records, House of Talents, Layali Dubai concerts, and arts and cultural shows, exhibitions and conferences, as well as Middle Eastern, Iranian and Indian plays are among the other attractions of the event.
The theme of 10 destinations include global village, heritage and diving village, Dubai carnivals, Eid Al-Adha grand carnival and international street performances, as well as the night souq and daily raffles and prizes that include a Lexus draw giving a chance to win 10 million dirhams cash. An individual will take home 100 kg gold as the grand prize. The souvenir gold coin winners will have a chance to win 5 kg gold. Besides, there will be a daily draw for a 1-kg gold prize.
Alshamsi said several measures had been taken for facilitating a smooth arrival of visitors from the Kingdom and elsewhere in the region during the festival. “Dubai has an organized system for welcoming GCC residents and processing travel documents quickly,” he added.
The road show, which will be followed by similar events in Dammam today and Riyadh tomorrow, is part of DSF’s Gulfwide tour.
Mohamed S. Alfalasi, Emirates regional manager for the Kingdom, said the airline was offering special packages for the festival. “We operate weekly five flights each from Jeddah and Riyadh and plan to add two more weekly flights from each city during the festival.
