Dubai malls prepare for Shopping Festival boost

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This year's Dubai Shopping Festival during March is set to attract another million-plus tourists and the city's shopping malls are reporting a return to brisk sales after the September slowdown. Centre managers have already started preparing shopping-linked promotions to capitalise on the tourist traffic expected to descend on Dubai. The Dubai Shopping Malls Group (DSMG), the body that promotes Dubai as a leading shopping destination through common strategies, is upbeat about the prospects for the Dubai Shopping Festival.

Apart from the return of international long-haul visitors, who make-up 60% of visitors to the festival, many local retailers are expecting to see a bigger turnout of Middle East tourists who may be less inclined to travel to the West. Another 20% of visitors originate from within Dubai and 20% from Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates. Many Dubai retailers make one quarter of their annual takings during the festival.

DSMG president Eisa Adam Ibrahim commented: "There are indications that DSF 2002 will lead to good sales. The last few days have been extremely hectic for shopping malls, indicating that there are better times ahead. Of course, this is a challenging phase and shopping malls need to create more attractive deals to reinforce Dubai's image as the preferred shopping destination in the region."

Dubai's malls have seen a gradual increase in business after the September 11 incidents, and there is optimism among malls as Dubai Shopping Festival approaches. I am confident that with the innovative spirit that Dubai malls have displayed in the past, they will do better than ever during DSF 2002."

The restructuring of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) organisation, six years after the team successfully made it one of the world's biggest shopping and entertainment events, was announced last week. Announcing new appointments of chief operating officer, chief marketing officer, directors of administration, special projects, corporate alliances and corporate communications, DSF ceo Hussain Ali Lootah, said: "The promotions and redesignations come as a reward for the invaluable contribution made by these persons. But the new posts also impose a greater responsibility on them to bring in freshness and innovation into the festival."

He also hailed role of the DSF Supreme Committee headed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Department of Civil Aviation and chairman of Emirates, in taking DSF to new heights of success year by year.