Dubai: There seems to be no let-up in visitors coming to Dubai – not even during summer.
The yellow smiling mascot, Modhesh, along with the city’s shopping and entertainment deals, has time and again attracted visitors to the emirate during the annual Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS).
Based on data from the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), Dubai has welcomed more than 25,774,400 visitors and residents who injected a total of Dh43.62 billion into the economy based on 14 years of data. This roughly translates to a per capita spending of Dh1,692 per visitor to DSS – a season considered lean by many retailers.
To put this in perspective, this DSS visitor number is almost half the actual number of visitors to the Dubai Shopping Festival until 2012 – a time when Dubai welcomes most of its visitors during the year — at 50 million. DSF was launched earlier than DSS.
“Prior to the launch of DSS in 1998, many people here opted to spend their summer vacation outside the region in cooler climates and retailers also faced a tough period due to the lean season,” Laila Mohammad Suhail, CEO of DFRE, an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), told Gulf News.
“However, based on the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to position Dubai as a year-round family tourism destination, DFRE has helped reverse this trend with the launch of DSS,” she added.
The 17th edition of DSS has gone a long way from its humble beginnings with just 600,000 visitors in 1998. Latest data from DFRE suggest that Dubai welcomed 4.36 million people in 2012, a growth of 626 per cent over the years.
“As we celebrate the 17th edition of Dubai Summer Surprises, we take pride in the fact that this summer festival continues to play a crucial role in boosting the retail and tourism sectors, the two key drivers of Dubai’s economic growth,” Laila said.
“The success of DSS has helped bring about a major transformation of the retail sector. Dubai’s retailers actually look forward to our summer festivals and celebrations like DSS and ‘Eid in Dubai’ to boost their business during this time of the year,” she added.
Family-centred activities remain the focus of the annual summer festival due to the fact that DFRE not only focuses on the economic aspects of DSS but also on ways of enhancing the social and cultural element of the festival.
This year, for example, DFRE included free summer camps for children between the ages of 3 and 16. It also boasts a list of world premieres of international events and shows, among others.
