Introduction
Dubai Shopping Festival was launched in 1996 under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, to position Dubai as a leading tourist destination and to stimulate the economic and tourism sectors in the city. The concept was the first of its kind in the region and proved to be highly successful mainly due to the close cooperation between the government and the private sectors.
Dubai Shopping Festival has become a global attraction today and a distinguished landmark in the global festivals industry, offering the best in shopping, winning and family entertainment. The DSF theme of 'One World, One Family, One Festival' is a reflection of the event's universal appeal and attracts millions of visitors from all over the world every year.
In late 2007, HH Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum issued a decree to formally establish the office of the Dubai Shopping Festival, which will be a financially and administratively independent public sector company. This decision affirms the great importance of the annual extravaganza, and the emphasis on DSF as a national event that reflects the development and prosperity of the city of Dubai.
The Aim
Dubai Shopping Festival was initiated with two key objectives in mind: to promote Dubai as the ultimate global shopping and tourist destination by creating world class events and retail promotions, and to set the benchmark for events and festivals around the world.
The Concept
Dubai Shopping Festival is based primarily on the theme of 'One World. One Family. One Festival' that aims to treat families of diverse nationalities and family members of all ages with the best shopping and family entertainment experience in the region.
Shopping is an integral part of Dubai Shopping Festival and the retail sector in Dubai comes alive during a whole month of amazing promotions and incredible prizes. The Dubai Shopping Malls Group, the official body representing malls in Dubai, plays an important role in attracting shoppers by organizing entertainment events and promotions. The Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group, representing jewellery outlets in Dubai, offer the latest and the best in gold and jewellery to shoppers during DSF. In addition to the numerous malls that offer promotions, the streets of Dubai also host shopping bazaars that recreate the authentic shopping atmosphere of souqs. Dubai Shopping Festival offers the finest shopping experience in the region for the millions of visitors, tourists, and shoppers from around the world.
Winning is a vital characteristic of DSF and it is interlinked to shopping as every shopper is provided the chance to be rewarded with incredible prizes. Over the years, prizes in the form of cash, cars, and gold have been given away as shopping incentives and it has become the vibrant visible face of the shopping festival.
Success of DSF
Dubai Shopping Festival became an instant success from its very first edition in 1996, redefining the nature of entertainment and shopping in the region and raising the bar high for other festivals. Its diversified events and relentless strive towards providing the best in shopping experiences, winning, and family entertainment has attracted millions of visitors over the years and positioned the glamorous city of Dubai as the new hub for tourism and commerce in the region. The carefully planned progress in each edition paved the way for unprecedented achievements in terms of stimulating various economic sectors in Dubai and the UAE, and setting new records in visitor numbers and retail revenues.
This success has been possible through the cooperation between the government and the private sectors. The synergy between the two entities has been responsible in contributing to development plans in all areas to position Dubai as one of the most advanced cities in the world.
The sponsors of DSF have contributed immensely to the success of the festival by offering unwavering support through organising various entertainment events and promotional offers. These events and promotions have succeeded in attracting visitors and residents to shopping malls throughout Dubai.
The city of Dubai has undergone massive changes in the past decade to emerge as a world-class destination with a high level of infrastructure that includes the largest shopping malls, the most luxurious hotels, state-of-the-art facilities, and a fast developing transport system. These factors will always be a cutting edge for Dubai Shopping festival to lead the way in the festival industry.
The success of DSF can be gauged from the visitor and visitor spending figures over the past editions. In the inaugural edition of DSF in 1996, 1.6 million visitors spent about AED 2.15 billion in 43 days. By the year 2006-2007, which witnessed a combined 11th and 12th edition of DSF, the visitor number had touched 3.5 million and the spending figure had reached a massive AED 10.2 billion.
Overview
The past editions of Dubai Shopping Festivals have been memorable in different ways, nevertheless creating benchmarks for successive years. The DSF Organising Committee has strived to make each edition bigger and better, with tremendous results.
The Year 1996
The very first festival in 1996 paved the way for a successful business proposition with a total spend of Dhs 2.15 billion and a visitor rate of 1.6 million. In its inaugural year, the Festival raffled 121 Lexus GS300 cars and 43 kilos of gold, and set the ball rolling for world class entertainment by leading Arab and international performers, a city wide carnival with Street Entertainment by Disney's Magic Memories and great sporting events, including the Dubai World Cup Horse Race.
The Year 1997
In 1997, sales figures jumped to Dhs 2.79 Billion, while the visitor number remained the same. Though the number of events was lesser compared to the present day, there were a variety of attractions in the very second year of DSF as the organizing committee worked closely with the private sector in offering fabulous promotions and discounts at their 3,000 participating outlets besides the regular 41 Lexus cars raffle and 31 kilos of gold being given away during the course of the Festival. Emirates Airline came up with huge discounts on air tickets and promoted the event in overseas markets through its offices abroad.
The Global Village, set up on the Creek side on Baniyas Street, turned out to be the biggest crowd puller for its international pavilions offering a variety of handicrafts, gift items and food products as did the Heritage and Diving Village in the old quarter of Shindagah and the Carpet Oasis. The nightly fireworks and Aqua Fantasia show had the audience asking for more.
The Year 1998
An impressive theme, 'Children of the World Meet in Dubai' was introduced to the Festival in 1998, which went on to become a huge success, as families with children arrived in large numbers. This arrival augured well for the tourism industry. It was during this year that the 'Nissan Patrol A Day' Super Safari raffle was added to the event, while 102 Lexus cars were raffled in 31 days, besides an additional seven Lexus cars given away to a single ticket holder on the last day of the event. On the sporting front, the ATP Dubai Tennis Open saw top seeds compete for vital points in international rankings, while the European PGA's Dubai Desert Classic had Greg Norman, Ernie Els, Jose-Maria Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie vie for the top spot.
The Year 1999
The Festival theme was later changed to "The Biggest Family Gathering of the Millennium" as sales during DSF 1999 rose by 14 per cent over the 1998 figures, thus sending a clear signal that the worldwide recession was no deterrent for Dubai to make a huge success of the event. The average number of daily visitors shot up from 73,000 to 86,000, registering an increase of 18 per cent. Of these, 21,800 came from overseas. The average four family groups rose to five members from three earlier, indicating that the focus on families was working in the right direction. The street venues of Al Riqqa and Al Muraqabbat, Al Diyafah and Al Seef came alive with hundreds of fun events like the Smurfs Village, Planet Pepsi, Toy City and whole lot more of entertainment activities.
The Year 2000
As the visitor numbers went up, DSF 2000 saw an impressive growth in European visitors indicating that the festival had come to stay as a truly global event. Thus, the theme 'One World One Family One Festival' came into existence. It attracted a record 2.55 million visitors from far corners of the world and neighbouring countries. Total overall spending during the 31-day shopping and entertainment extravaganza registered a five per cent increase.
The Year 2001
The highlight of DSF 2001 was the US$100,000 put up at the 'To Mother With Love' promotion, which was in addition to the 100,000 weekly cash prize given to the winning mother besides the regular 41 kilos of gold and 31 Rolls Royce cars. Thus, in the year 2001, hotel revenues increased from Dh 450 million to Dh 480 million, expenditure on eating out rose by 20 per cent to Dh 510 million and expenditure on rides and entertainment increased by Dh 28 million, while winners had a great time with two Lexus cars plus Dh 100,000 cash and 41 kilos of gold in the daily raffles.
The Year 2002
The growth continued as the Dubai Shopping Festival 2002 registered a rise of five per cent, taking the total number of 'shoppers' in the year to 2.68 million, indicating that the Festival continued to strengthen its allure of a truly global event. It was prizes galore as besides the regular 31 Nissan Patrols, two Lexus cars and AED 200,000 in cash and 41 kilos of gold were given away. The hotel guest lists increased by 15 per cent, also showing that the total number of visitors from the other Arab speaking states outside GCC increased by 22 per cent.
The Year 2003
Several new tourism and retail concepts were introduced during DSF 2003, like the Night Souq, which came across as a welcome opportunity for shoppers during the leisurely hours of 9pm to 3am daily, and the Desert Camp, which captured the thrill of adventure in its own distinct way. Dubai joined the ranks of the fashion capitals of the world by organizing Dubai Fashion 2003, an event that featured the best names in international fashion and jewellery. The Global Village continued to attract more visitors now numbering 3.1 million. Local culture was showcased through the popular Carpet Oasis and the Heritage and Diving Village.
Dubai Shopping Festival 2003 witnessed record growth figures across key tourism indicators such as visitor numbers, hotel revenues and retail growth. Key tourism indicators such as overall spend increased by 11.3 per cent, increasing from Dh4.6 billion in DSF 2002 to Dh5.12 billion during DSF 2003, while visitor numbers increased by 8.95 per cent to 2.92 million. It was during this DSF that 32 kilos of gold and a mega prize of Dh1 million was raffled.
Art and music lovers had a field day, as Dubai hosted some of the world's most talented performers like Whitney Houston, Bryan Adams, A.R. Rahman, Zakir Hussain and Jethro Tull who gave world-class performances at the Festival. The classic fairy tales of Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and Peter Pan were enacted for children, who are special guests of DSF every year. Over 1,000 international street performers delighted the youngsters throughout the month.
The Year 2004
The new concept of Dubai Fashion 2004 featured top fashion houses like Dior, Christian Lacroix, Givenchy and Emanuel Ungaro. The Festival registered a total of 3.1 million visitors, posting a growth of six per cent over 2.92 million visitors in 2003 and the total visitor spend during DSF 2004 touched AED 5.80 billion, compared to AED 5.12 billion in the previous year, thus registering an overall increase of 13.28 per cent.
The Year 2005
With the continuously rising trend DSF 2005 registered 3.3 million visitors with a total spend of Dh6.67 billion. And for this 10th special edition of DSF, mind-boggling raffle promotions, like the Lexus Mega Raffle, gave away two top-of-the-range cars plus AED 100,000 per day. Meanwhile, a few millionaires also emerged as part of the Lexus draw offering tickets for Dh200 each. Four Emaar Properties Villas, besides the 10 Nissan Patrol cars, were raffled. Eating and shopping were rewarded with raffle prizes as well. The popular Dubai City of Gold promotion once again offered glittering prizes of 100 kilos of gold to one winner besides the daily one kilo of gold and solitaire diamonds to shoppers spending AED 500 at any of the participating jewellery stores.
The Year 2006-2007
DSF 2006-2007 was a combined 11th and 12th edition and presented double the celebrations, excitement, and provided increased opportunities for shopping and entertainment. Commencing on the 20th of December, 2006, the double-edition was also the longest, spanning 45 days and ending on February 2, 2007.
The longer duration of the festival also meant that more international events were introduced to the festival. Cirque du Soleil, the world renowned circus act, made its debut in the Middle East in Dubai during DSF and attracted visitors of all ages and nationalities. The Dubai Balloon Festival was another international event that was organized during DSF.
The three raffle draws organized during DSF, the Lexus Mega Raffle, Nissan Raffle, and the Gold Daily Raffle, were a major attraction for the hundreds of thousands of shoppers in Dubai and from around the world. Ninety-six Lexus cars, forty-five Nissans, forty-five kilos of gold and massive cash prizes were given away during the 45-day long shopping festival.
The Year 2008
In its 13th edition, Dubai Shopping festival lasted for 32 days from 24th of January to 24th of February 2008. With a new and innovative marketing slogan, “The Fifth Season”, DSF 2008 was launched with an advanced strategy that was designed to elevate and enhance the annual event to keep up with the fast paced development of Dubai. In its main core, the new strategy emphasizes on shopping, hence DSF 2008 had plenty of promotions and shopping attractions to offer to its visitors from around the world. With more than 3500 retail shops and 40 state of the art shopping malls offering unbelievable discounts on international brands, DSF 2008 transformed Dubai into the shopping haven of the region.
Entertainment also had its share of success, DSF 2008 presented new concepts of entertainment that made a huge positive impact. Along with several international shows that made its Middle East debut in Dubai, DSF created the Weekend entertainment packages concept that provided extra entertainment for weekend visitors. “Dubai Records” was also launched as a new and challenging event to highlight the accomplishments of Dubai’s multicultural society. “Dubai Fashion” was a huge success, with ex-supermodel Adriana Karembeu as the guest of the event, along with top designers of the world. The event attracted unprecedented attention from international media.
The mega draws came with a twist of excitement this year, the Lexus Mega Raffle presented two high end cars and 100,000 in cash but in different international currencies every draw. DSF 2008 gave out 72 Lexus cars, 43 Nissan cars and 32 kilos of Gold.
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