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.

Economic Zones World Appoints Millennium Group As Exclusive Operator And Manager Of Its New Hotel Development In Jafza

Economic Zones World (EZW) today signed an agreement with Millennium and Copthorne Middle East Holding Ltd, the Abu Dhabi based global hotel and resort operators, to manage and operate its new hotel project in Jafza.

The agreement, signed by Salma Hareb, Chief Executive Officer, EZW, and Ali Hamad Lakhraim, President and CEO, Millennium and Copthorne Middle East, at Millennium stand in Arabian Travel Mart (ATM), entrusts Millennium with the responsibility of managing the upcoming hotel project in the Jafza Convention Centre in the Jebel Ali Free Zone.

Salma Hareb said: “Our alliance with Millennium and Copthorne Middle East is another step in Jafza’s ambitious expansion plans. The hotel and the allied projects are part of our efforts to make Jebel Ali Free Zone the best in the world in all-round excellence. It is our deep-rooted commitment to customer satisfaction that prompted us to seek the best possible service support in the development of the hotel. The association with Millennium, with its global reputation in providing hotel operating services, will help us reach our goal.”

Ali Hamad Lakhraim said: “We are pleased to associate with Jafza in the hotel development project. Jafza’s expansion, once completed, will bring about dramatic progress in Dubai and the UAE’s status as the biggest trading hub in the region. Millennium is proud to be part of this development. We are confident that our experience and expertise in hotel operating services can add more value to Jafza’s project.”

One of the key elements of Jafza’s expansion plans is the iconic Jafza Convention Centre, of which the 322-room 4-star hotel forms an important part.

The state of the art Convention Centre is spread over an area of 72,700 square meters. In addition to the hotel, the key features of the centre include a conference centre with business halls and 34 storey twin office towers.
The AED 2.5 billion Jafza Convention Centre will also include exhibitions halls, a 600-seat modular auditorium, 22-outlet food court, two terrace restaurants, a fitness centre, a recreational area, retail outlets, a VIP Majlis, lecture halls and a 4100-space car park. One of the two Signature Clubs in the UAE will also be housed in the Convention Centre.

The expansion is line with Jafza’s strategic aim to enhance its value proposition as the single largest hub of economic activity in the region. The new facilities will further improve Jafza’s integrated services, meeting customer demands in all areas.

Millennium and Copthorne Middle East Holding Ltd is a dynamic global group, which owns, asset manages and/or operates over 120 hotels in 19 countries around the world. Millennium Hotels and Resorts comprises four distinct brands – Grand Millennium, Millennium Hotels, Copthorne Hotels and Kingsgate Hotels. The group operates hotels and resorts in the US, Europe, Asia, Middle East and North Africa.
 

Reputation Of Iconic Buildings In UAE Under Threat

Public and private property owners and developers have been urged to realise that the UAE’s Facilities Management sector can soften the impact of an economic recession and help preserve the region’s global reputation for iconic buildings that attract tourists and business.According to Stan Mitchell, the keynote speaker at this year’s Property & FM Conference and Workshop, Dubai, FM can help organisations rationalise and introduce necessary efficiencies as well as plan buildings that can be better managed throughout their life cycle.“FM should be raising the awareness of what facilities management really is – as opposed to facilities services. By doing so, business and commerce – and not to mention government – will sit up and take note,” said Mitchell, who is CEO of Key Facilities Management International and Founding Chairman, Global Facility Management Association.“The facilities management sector has a huge part to play not just in supporting real estate developers improve their lot, but also in assisting the UAE as a whole to recover and re-establish its reputation as a destination of choice,” he added.The Property & FM conference is part of FM Expo, the Middle East’s leading facilities management event. The exhibition takes place at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre on 24-26 May 2009 while the Property & FM conference and workshop runs concurrently at the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel, Dubai.Mitchell believes that FM should thrive in a recession as its core business – the ongoing management of the property asset overhead – is where real savings can usually be made.But he warned that there was a danger of FM not delivering on its potential of driving down building operations costs. Given the region’s development of iconic real estate, that could be disastrous.“What would it be saying to the world if many of these iconic structures are not managed properly and the whole life cost becomes the benchmark on how not to do it?” he said.Mitchell’s keynote address will question whether FM is ready and sufficiently professional to influence the boardroom, discussing FM’s contribution to the bottom line, the importance of performance measurement and FM’s role in corporate responsibility.The FM Conference is being chaired by Mick Dalton, General Manager at Abu Dhabi-based Marafeq Facilities Management. The event has attracted 22 regional and international speakers including Dilip Khatwani, CEO, Reliance Facilities Management, UAE, Mohamed Habbal, Facilities Manager, Nakheel, UAE, Dr. Sadek Owainati, Founder, Emirates Green Building Council, UAE, Jim Whittaker, President, Facility Engineering Association and Mario Seneviratne, Director, Green Technologies FZCO, UAE and Board Member, World Green Building Council.Louisa Theobald, Group Exhibitions Director of Streamline Marketing Group, organisers of FM Expo and the Property & FM Conference, said that sustainability, human resources, and cost issues will be discussed.“These are all vital issues considering the growth in FM and the need to make the market aware of the benefits that can accrue from well-run FM,” she said.Adding value in a cost-cutting climate is also in focus, as is risk assessment and management, best procurement practices and the growing need to be able to offer an integrated FM offering.Platinum sponsor for the FM Expo 2009 event is Etisalat Facilities Management, which is also supporting the conference.For more on FM Expo please visit www.fm-expo.com