Thousands participate in Treasure Hunt at The Dubai Mall Gold Souk

Ms Maria Rica Joy Gador has been declared winner of the Treasure Hunt promotion organised by the Gold Souk at The Dubai Mall. The world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination had hosted a special promotion at the sprawling Gold Souk for a month.More than 70,000 visitors took part in the Treasure Hunt, in which all they had to do was to identify five icons – a gold tree, falcon, camel and stallions – that are permanent fixtures in the passageways of the Gold Souk.Mr Nasser Rafi, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: "The Treasure Hunt was one of our initiatives to further popularize the Gold Souk among our visitors. With over 200 gold and jewellery stores, the Gold Souk is a must-visit retail destination for jewellery purchases. The Treasure Hunt also aimed at highlighting the spectacular design of the retail precinct."Ms. Maria Rica Joy Gador, a Filipina expatriate, said: "I still can’t believe I have won the treasure hunt! The Dubai Mall has taken this concept and organized it in such an interesting manner. I am so happy I had this whole experience of participating in the treasure hunt and eventually be the winner."
 
During the month-long Treasure Hunt, various events such as the Arabian Dancers, falcon display, and henna and calligraphy demonstrations were held, attracting families and visitors. The Gold Souk saw a significant increase in visitor turnout and sales, as more people explored the winding streets of the Gold Souk and the treasures it has to offer.
 
With over 900 of its total 1,200 retail outlets already open, The Dubai Mall has established itself as a premier retail destination in Dubai. The mall also offers diverse leisure choices including the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, featuring 33,000 aquatic animals, the world’s largest acrylic viewing panel and a walk-through tunnel; the Olympic-sized Dubai Ice Rink and The Waterfall, which traverses four levels of the mall. Several other leisure attractions including KidZania® and SEGA Republic – two theme parks for children and family – and a 22-screen Reel Cinemas will open this year. 

The Dubai Mall hosts 3 million visitors over month-long shopping festival

The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination, hosted three million visitors over the one-month long shopping and entertainment extravaganza, which concludes today (Friday, May 29, 2009). Festival@The Dubai Mall attracted more than 750,000 visitors every week, strengthening sales across the mall’s 900 retail and F&B outlets.Marking the formal opening of the mall by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the Festival@The Dubai Mall offered a diverse bouquet of bargain deals on global brands, ’Win Millions’ raffles, Bid 2 Win auctions for premium products, a Grand Bentley draw and mall-wide entertainment. One of the spectacular attractions during the festival was the unveiling of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain.Today (May 29, 2009), one lucky winner will get AED 1 million in cash prize at the ’Win Millions’ raffle. The Grand Bentley draw for the luxurious, four-door Bentley Continental Flying Spur will also be held, adding to the prize bonanzas offered on the final day. The mall will come alive to a spectacular display of entertainment as several performers come together for a grand finale. Apart from daily entertainment programmes, the mall has also hosted more than 100 fashion shows during the festival at the newly inaugurated Fashion Catwalk at the Fashion Avenue.Mr Nasser Rafi, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: "We have achieved the objectives of hosting the Festival@The Dubai Mall, which were to enhance visitors and strengthen sales at our retail outlets. To draw over 3 million visitors in one month is a testament to the success of the mall as well as the city’s global reputation as a premier tourist destination."He added: "The Festival@The Dubai Mall has been a confidence booster for the economy, and offered customers a perfect continuum of shopping and entertainment spectacles from Dubai Shopping Festival to the Dubai Summer Surprises, which will start shortly. We are thankful to all our partners for their support, particularly to the Dubai Shopping Festival Office."With a total cash prize of AED 3.1 million apart, The Festival@The Dubai Mall has set a new benchmark in mall-wide entertainment with the spectacular array of leisure attractions. The Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, a popular attraction at the mall, introduced Shark Dives for the adventurous, offering the opportunity to dive into the 11 metre deep aquarium and surf the waters with sand tiger sharks and rays. The Olympic-sized Dubai Ice Rink introduced ’Disco on Ice’ with an in-house DJ belting out popular music and the Fashion Catwalk was abuzz with haute couture events.The Festival@The Dubai Mall is supported by Dubai Media Inc, Arab Media Group and The Address Hotels + Resorts, a part of Emaar Hospitality Group.

Dubailand Completes QHSE Governance Framework

DUBAILAND®, the world’s landmark tourism, leisure and entertainment destination and a member of Tatweer, today announced it has successfully completed an extensive Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental (QHSE) governance framework on par with international best practices and in partnership with IRCA Middle East, the globally recognized pioneer in the field.

With the completion of the QHSE governance framework, DUBAILAND® has reached a key milestone in its ambition to become a landmark tourism, leisure and entertainment destination. The framework provides a comprehensive strategy for establishing and implementing effective QHSE management principles and is designed to address these requirements throughout the entire life-cycle of each project at the destination.

The governance framework also recognizes the importance of investors in establishing and implementing high QHSE standards. DUBAILAND framework will serve as a critical guideline to investors and owner/operators to ensure the protection of employees, visitors, communities and the environment.

The QHSE governance outlines specific Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental requirements through every stage of design, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance and aims to maintain customer relations management, indentify and reduce hazards, manage risk and limit bureaucracy.

Mohammed Al Habbai, Senior Vice-President of DUBAILAND, said: “The completion of the QHSE governance framework marks a new phase at DUBAILAND, confirming our commitment to self regulation and compliance with rigorous global best practices. The framework is also an essential part of Tatweer’s core objective that each of its projects meets stringent requirement and operate according to the standards of excellence endorsed in the framework.

“In order to effectively maintain the DUBAILAND® brand, and that of its investors and operators, we have developed QHSE guidelines as a key benchmark for excellence and will now begin implementing and monitoring its progress to the benefit of our stakeholders.”

QHSE principles are practiced worldwide and mandate corporate processes, encourage continuous improvement and streamline all processes within an organization.

IRCA Middle East operates in various sectors including construction, oil and gas, petrochemical, general industry, healthcare and consulting services across the region. It offers specialized consultancy services to organizations to ensure compliance with global standard QHSE guidelines.

Phase one of DUBAILAND is open and features cultural entertainment at Global Village, racing action at MotorCity, world-class sporting events at Dubai Sports City, shopping at The Dubai Outlet Mall and breath-taking shows at Al Sahra Desert Resort.

AED 20 Billion Investment In The Dubai Mall Drives Retail Growth And Creates 10,000 New Jobs In Dubai

Emaar Malls Group and its retailer partners have together invested AED 20 billion to develop the world’s largest shopping mall and create 10,000 new jobs.

The Dubai Mall is the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination covering 12 million square feet, equivalent to 200 football fields. And soaring visitor numbers are driving business, with mall retailers reporting a 33 per cent jump in sales from December to April, said Mr Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties, in an interview with Pan Arab television station Al Arabiya.

The Dubai Mall is also now the region’s single largest new employment generator, creating 10,000 jobs this year. Retailers have created an estimated 7,500 jobs and Emaar Malls Group has hired thousands more people to work in management, operations, sales, marketing, security, parking and other services.

Mr. Alabbar said: “The Dubai Mall is a catalyst for Dubai’s economy, driving the retail sector and employment. The formal opening of the mall on May 8, 2009, by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, attracted a record 160,000 visitors – over 10 per cent of the city’s population. With 750,000 visitors every week during the Festival@The Dubai Mall, the mall is on course to achieve annual visitor traffic of 37 million.”

“The Dubai Mall is one of the most significant investments in retailing in the world. It has introduced 165 new retail brands and concepts into the Middle East and unveiled flagship stores of international brands. The world famous department stores Galeries Lafayette and Bloomingdale’s are making their Middle East debut at the mall. This reflects the strength of Dubai’s retail sector and the appeal of The Dubai Mall to the global retail industry,” explained Mr. Alabbar.

According to recent research by CB Richard Ellis, Dubai is the fourth most-attractive city for international retailers next only to London, Paris and New York City. The study mapped the global footprint of 280 of the world’s top retailers across 67 countries. It revealed that 46 per cent of these global retailers are in Dubai compared to London (60 per cent), Paris (49 per cent) and New York (47 per cent).

With 1,200 retailers, The Dubai Mall has the largest collection of international brand names under one roof. If all the shop fronts were lined up, they would stretch 23 kilometres. More than 900 shops are already open, and the remaining 300 will open in the next three months. Visitors can also choose from an array of international cuisine at two food courts with a total seating capacity of 3,000. The mall also has over 14,000 car parking spaces.

Leisure attractions at the mall include The Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo featuring over 33,000 aquatic animals including sharks and rays, and with the world’s largest acrylic viewing panel and a walk-through tunnel; the Olympic-sized Dubai Ice-Rink; and The Waterfall, an indoor spectacle that traverses the four floors of the mall. The daily shows at The Dubai Fountain are an added draw for visitors.

Located on the 30-acre Burj Dubai Lake, The Dubai Fountain is the world’s tallest performing fountain. Designed by California-based WET, the creators of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas, The Dubai Fountain is over 900 ft (275 metres) in length. It features powerful water nozzles which shoot water sprays to heights of over 500 ft (150 metres) – equivalent to that of a 50-storey building. Over 6,600 WET Superlights – the most advanced incandescent large fountain lights available today – and 25 colour projectors will create a visual spectrum of over 1,000 different water expressions that will appeal to visitors.

Other entertainment features opening in the next three months include KidZania®, an innovative children’s ‘edu-tainment’ concept that is being introduced to the region for the first time; SEGA Republic, a 76,000 sq-ft indoor theme park; and the 22-screen REEL Cinemas with a total capacity of 2,800 seats.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum formally opens The Dubai Mall

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, today, formally opened The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination.The highlight of the opening ceremony was the unveiling of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain, which performed to the melody of an Emirati song, Sama Dubai. Replicating the graceful movements of Emirati dance forms, the performance of Sama Dubai was a tribute to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.The song highlights the world-class vision and leadership qualities of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and celebrates the success of Dubai. The performance of Sama Dubai is unparalleled in the history of fountains – a modern engineering marvel choreographed to the rhythm and beats of an Emirati song.The spectacular opening ceremony, held by the waterfront promenade of The Dubai Mall, was attended by dignitaries and high-ranking officials, and joined by thousands of visitors to the mall, who were treated to a full showcase of the fountain’s musical performances.Mr Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties, said that the opening ceremony, with the special performance of Sama Dubai, is Emaar’s tribute to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. “His Highness inspired us to think bigger and better, and today, we are fulfilling his vision of growth for Dubai.”He added: “The formal opening of the mall will continue to energise the retail and tourism sector of Dubai, and now, with the unveiling of The Dubai Fountain, we are also adding to the tourist attractions of the city.”The Dubai Fountain will now perform daily, with the performance repertoire including Sama Dubai; Baba Yetu, an award-winning song in Swahili; the Arab world’s top-selling dance number Shik Shak Shok; and the signature piece of world-renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, Con te partiro (Time to Say Goodbye).Set on the 30-acre Burj Dubai Lake, the fountain shoots water jets as high as 500 ft (150 metres), equivalent to that of a 50-storey building. The fountain is 900 ft (275 metres) long and has five circles of varying sizes and two central arcs. It has been designed by California-based WET, the creators of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas.Over 6,600 WET Superlights – the most advanced incandescent large fountain lights available today – and 25 colour projectors create a visual spectrum of over 1,000 abstract attractions. The beam of light shining upward from the fountain can be seen from over 20 miles away, and will be visible from space making it the brightest spot in the Middle East, and quite possibly in the entire world.Marking the revelry of the opening ceremony, the mall also organised an array of entertainment events to add to the verve of the month-long Festival@The Dubai Mall, a shopping and entertainment extravaganza.Since its soft opening in November 2008, The Dubai Mall has welcomed several thousands of visitors, including UAE residents and tourists. Situated in close proximity to Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, The Dubai Mall is spread over an area of 12 million sq ft. It has a gross leasable area of 3.77 million sq ft and is planned to have over 1,200 retail stores including 160 food & beverage outlets. Already, more than 900 retail outlets have opened including several flagship stores and Middle East debuts of global brands. For the convenience of visitors, the mall has 14,000 car parking spaces.The mall’s extensive array of leisure attractions makes it one of the largest entertainment destinations in the region too. The Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is a key attraction for families, and has over 33,000 aquatic animals. The aquarium also features the world’s largest acrylic viewing panel and a walk-through tunnel. The Olympic-sized Dubai Ice-Rink and The Waterfall, which traverses the four levels of the mall, are also popular among families.Later this year, the mall will open the region’s first KidZania® – an innovative children’s edutainment concept; SEGA Republic – a high adrenaline indoor theme park; and the 22-screen REEL Cinema with a total capacity of 2,800 seats.The Festival@The Dubai Mall will continue through May 29, 2009, with the retail outlets offering several bargain deals for customers. They also have the opportunity to win millions of dirhams in prizes through daily and weekly draws, and a grand draw for AED 1 million at the end of the festival. Other attractions of the Festival@The Dubai Mall include an innovative Bid 2 Win auction, Grand Bentley raffles and mall-wide entertainment. Since the beginning of the festival, the mall has hosted nearly a million shoppers, and retailers have recorded a significant increase in sales – a clear indication that consumer confidence in Dubai’s economy is on the rise. The Dubai Mall is a centerpiece of Downtown Burj Dubai, the 500-acre mega-development by Emaar Properties, described as the new heart of the city.

DUBAILAND And Royal Caribbean International Sign Strategic Joint Marketing Partnership

DUBAILAND®, a member of Tatweer, and Royal Caribbean International, the world’s largest global cruise line, today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding towards the formation of a strategic marketing partnership, which is expected to provide a substantial boost to the cruise industry and the destination of Dubai.
The agreement’s goal is to promote the development, growth and commercial success of the two brands through joint marketing and promotional activities in key global source markets. Royal Caribbean will feature DUBAILAND’s key live attractions in their shore excursion programs, while DUBAILAND will actively promote Royal Caribbean’s Dubai cruises through their global agency network.

From January to April 2010, Royal Caribbean International will introduce seven-night sailings aboard the Brilliance of the Seas from Dubai to an international mix of guests, in line with its signature style of cruising for active holidaymakers. Guests will have ample time to explore the spectacular city with overnight stays at the beginning and conclusion of the voyage.

DUBAILAND is the world’s largest tourism, leisure and entertainment destination. Phase One of DUBAILAND is now open with its five live projects – including Dubai Autodrome in MotorCity, Dubai Outlet Mall in Outlet City, The Global Village, Al Sahra Desert Resort and Dubai Sports City, which contains the Ernie Els Golf Club, the Butch Harmon School of Golf and the Cricket Stadium – operational.

Currently the projects receive up to eight million visits annually, and are designed to add further variety to Dubai’s tourism offering by providing visitors with exciting entertainment options and incredible value for money.
Mohammed Al Habbai, Senior Vice-President of DUBAILAND, said: “As one of the premier global destinations, DUBAILAND is privileged to enter into this partnership with one of the globe’s leading cruise line operators. Our agreement can be recognized as a world-class initiative to add value to the emirate’s economy, increase visitor numbers and enhance the customer experience in Dubai and the region for residents and visitors. We are confident the deal will result in creating synergies that will contribute to the growth of regional and international tourism.

“The objective of the deal between DUBAILAND and Royal Caribbean International is to promote the growth and commercial success of the two brands through promotional activities in key global source markets, while contributing to the growth of the tourism industry worldwide.”

Adam Goldstein, President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, said: “The partnership has been entered into at an opportune time as we gear up for the launch of our first Arabian dedicated season, and will help us actively promote our Gulf cruises and land programs while enhancing the Dubai offering for our mutual customers.

“Building on our reputation for introducing revolutionary cruise experiences, we share DUBAILAND’s commitment to delivering an extraordinary guest experience. We strongly believe the deal will bring benefit to both brands on a global scale.”

Michael Bayley, Senior Vice President International for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. added: “Our partnership with DUBAILAND increases our synergies in the region and develops our mutual international brand awareness and business opportunities.

“DUBAILAND shares our mission to innovate our respective industry segments and create the most memorable holiday experiences for our guests. We are delighted to partner with DUBAILAND to provide holidaymakers around the world with the best of land and sea when planning a trip to Dubai.”

Brilliance of the Seas is considered one of the most elegant cruise ships in the world. The ship features an open Centrum with 10-deck high windows and ocean-facing glass elevators, both of which will offer spectacular views of the passing shoreline and sea. On Brilliance of the Seas, the whole family can share in nine holes of mini-golf; scale the iconic rock wall, which Royal Caribbean first introduced to cruising; join a basketball game on the sports court; delight in riding the Adventure Beach waterslide; or challenge each other on one of the self-leveling pool tables in the Bombay Billiards Club. Guests also will enjoy Royal Caribbean’s award-winning musical revues from Royal Caribbean Productions, multiple restaurants, lounges and discos throughout the ship, and world-class gaming in the Casino Royale. Throughout their stay, every guest will enjoy Royal Caribbean’s Gold Anchor standard of friendly and engaging service from Brilliance’s staff and crew.