Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo Clocks Its One Millionth Visitor

It’s official now: Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo has become one of the most visited attractions in Dubai.

This leisure attraction at The Dubai Mall recently welcomed its one millionth visitor, a landmark achieved in less than seven months of its opening. Having over one million paid visitors – who have experienced the aquarium tunnel and underwater zoo – complements the several thousands of visitors to the mall, who have free access to aquarium views.

In addition to a tour of the walk-through tunnel for close encounters with species like Sand Tiger Sharks, Rays and Giant Groupers, paid visitors can also tour the Underwater Zoo, located directly above the Aquarium on Level 2. Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo has been constantly adding to the appeal to visitors with a diverse collection of aquatic animals, currently at over 220.

Mr. Arif Amiri, Senior Director, Emaar Properties PJSC said: “Leisure attractions are an integral part of the shopping mall experience today. Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is by far the most popular, must-visit destination for the city’s residents and tourists from all around the world. To add to the excitement, new attractions – both in terms of diversity of species and engaging activities for visitors – are being added regularly. We look forward to achieving many such milestones.”

Mr. Nasser Rafi, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: “Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Dubai today, and has been driving strong visitor flow to the mall. The milestone of having one million paid visitors, in less than seven months, also highlights the success of The Dubai Mall as one of the most popular leisure destinations in the city.”

A new attraction at Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is the Shark Dive, introduced for the first-time ever in the region within a mall environment. The newly-introduced Shark Dives have opened doors to professionals as well as first time divers.

The Dubai Aquarium measures 51m x 20m x 11m and features the Guinness World Record for the largest viewing panel at 32.8m wide x 8.3m high. With the capacity to hold 10 million litres of water, the aquarium illuminates the marvels of the ocean and showcases one of the most diverse collections of aquatic life worldwide. The 270-degree walkthrough tunnel enables visitors to get closer views of the aquatic animals.

Underwater Zoo features penguins, seals, crocodiles and water rats, among its rich diversity of species. It offers an interactive approach to educating children and visitors on the ecology and sustainability of marine life. Following the journey of a raindrop in the sky, falling from the tropical rainforest to the wide open seas, children can walk through various aquatic environments.

Visitors to the aquarium revel at the sight of underwater divers feeding the Sand Tiger Sharks. Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo organises exclusive programs for children as well. Tours of the aquarium and zoo inform them of the important messages of environmental care in a fun and interactive way. A team of marine educators help visiting school groups and visitors to understand animal behavior.

Amongst other leisure attractions at The Dubai Mall are the Olympic-size Dubai Ice Rink and The Waterfall, which traverses four levels of the mall. SEGA Republic, the region’s first SEGA indoor theme park; KidZania®, a unique children’s ‘edu-tainment’ concept and the 22-screen Reel Cinemas will open later this year.

Over One Million Books To Feature At This Year’s Much-Awaited Bargains On Books

The annual Bargains on Books is back with a bang. Over one million books will go on sale at unbelievable discounts at this year’s grand sale of books. The event will be held from May 27, 2009 to May 30, 2009 (9.am to 10 pm daily) at the Airport Expo, Dubai. This event received overwhelming response in its previous two years held in 2007 & 2008. The Bargains on Books event is organized by Pioneer House LLC.

Titles from across a wide range of categories would be on sale at the event. The categories include children-books, cookery, management, all-time classics, health and fitness, science, biographies, dictionaries, encyclopedia, travel, leisure and latest fiction & non-fiction. All under one roof in a not-to-be missed out event for the reading aficionado.

A free book will be given away for all purchases of over AED50. Lucky shoppers could also win prizes through the daily draws and a grand mega draw.

Commenting on the Bargains on Books 2009, Mr. Tahir Rafiq, of Pioneer House LLC said: “We are excited to organize the third annual grand sale of books. We were amazed by the response we received for the event during the last two years.

This year, we are adding many more titles, specially a large selection of computer books and have also increased categories of books. For the convenience of our customer, we have moved the event to a bigger location, the Dubai Airport Expo. This is the only event in Dubai that offers the ideal opportunity for both serious and casual readers to take home their favourite titles at incredibly low prices.”

He added: “Our main aim of this event is to ensure that books across categories are made available at affordable prices for the residents of the UAE. We would want to trigger the development of the reading habit, especially amongst children."

More Than AED23m Fetched From 62nd Number Plates Auction

Vehicle number plate (G 60) topped the sales and fetched 1,390,000 dirham in the 62nd Distinguished Number Plates Auction recently held by Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) at Jumeirah Beach Hotel; which raised total proceeds of 23,775,000 dirham.

“The aggregate amount raised in the 62nd Auction is testament to the success of Distinguished Number Plates Auction in Dubai” said the CEO of RTA Licensing Agency Ahmed Hashim Bahrozyan. “The Auction made a good progress towards meeting the demand of a wide segment of the public wishing to own distinguished numbers. This is reflected in the attendance of about 300 bidders who participated effectively in the bidding process and hailed the improved procedure of organizing & displaying distinguished numbers. During the Auction 105 numbers were offered comprising 2, 3, 4, and 5-digit numbers of categories F, G, H & I” he added.

“Out of the total 105 numbers offered, 4 were 2-digit plates, 43 were 3-digit plates, 32 were 4-digit plates, and 26 were 5-digit plates. In the sales ring, 2-digit number plates topped the list of proceeds with the number (G 60) clocking the highest sales price of 1.39 million dirham, next came (G 27) which fetched 1.3 million dirham, followed by (H 90) selling for 1.25 million dirham, and (G 45) which was sold for 1.18 million dirham.

“3-digit numbers, which included 43 numbers, was topped by (H 100) which was sold for one million dirham, and the 4-digit numbers, which included 32 numbers, was topped by (G 4444) selling for 610,000 dirham, whereas 5-digit numbers, which included 26 numbers, was topped by (G 88888) selling for 670,000 dirham.

“The Distinguished Number Plate Auctions, which are held almost on monthly basis, are making continued successes in attracting a wide spectrum of community segments hailing from various emirates who are making serious bids to own distinguished numbers in offer. RTA is therefore seeking to continue with upgrading the Auction in terms of procedures and diversity of issuing new numbers to meet aspirations of these individuals to own distinguished licensing numbers” added Bahrozyan.

The CEO of Licensing Agency elaborated on the factors underlying the success of the 62nd Auction and said: “We can single out two-fold success factors; operational and logistical. These include mobilizing all resources to promote the Auction and licensing numbers, systematic marketing planning adopting various tools to reach the targeted audience, official media support, and forming a work team to oversee the Auction program & requirements. Other factors include the official announcement of the Auction 15 days in advance, and prior arrangements made for the venue and the Auction company, culminating in a smooth flow of associated operations.

With Support Of Global Village, MBRE Achieves Significant Success

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders (MBRE) assured the positive results and the support by Global Village of its members’ participation in the 2008. It was noted that financial outcomes achieved by the participants in the last year event have reached Dh 3,605,978 (three million, six hundred and five thousand, nine hundred and seventy eight dirham).

The Global Village has offered its members special discounts up to 50%, accounting for a total amount of Dh 1,191,846 (one million, one hundred and ninety one thousand, eight hundred and forty six dirham), on kiosk and spaces rentals. Meanwhile, sales volume achieved by MBRE’s members during the Global Village activities last year was estimated at about Dh 2,414,132 (two million, four hundred and fourteen thousand, one hundred and thirty two dirham).

Commenting on these positive outcomes, Ms. Ibtihal Naji , Government Procurement Program manager of Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders, emphasized the crucial role of the small and medium business in the UAE economy. "The UAE in general, and Dubai in particular, is paying special attention to these businesses as part of its support for the UAE national business leaders and its commitment to offer them the chance to effectively contribute to the economic development of their country," she said.

She explained that the fruitful and constant cooperation between the Global Village and MBRE envisages the two parties’ keenness to materialize the prudent vision of country’s leadership.

She attributed these encouraging results to the collaboration between MBRE and the Global Village management that opened the door for the participation of 62 MBRE’s members and other organizations who support the entrepreneur to be introduced to the business market in its last year edition.

The Global Village commitment to support the UAE business leaders and provide them with the opportunity to offer their unique services to the village visitors.