Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment renamed

Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a law renaming the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE) as Dubai Festivals and Retail Sector Promotions Establishment (DFRSPE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

This decision followed Shaikh Mohammad’s recent approval of Dubai’s Tourism Vision for 2020, which includes the target of 20 million visitors per year by 2020 as retail and festivals being key drivers of tourism and crucial elements of the strategy.

Business owners and retailers in Dubai welcomed Shaikh Mohammad’s initiative concerning the support of the retail sector which reserve potential growth to the economy.

Mohammad Al Madani, UAE-based businessman, told Gulf News that while this sector contribution in the emirate GDP reported by 15 per cent last year, this move will help them to promote with this sector further.

“It a real support to retail business in Dubai. Government bringing more focus and support to this sector will not only help promote with the business performance overall, but will upgrade the legal infrastructure of this sector as well as enhance consumer confidence in the market.”

Since its inception 18 years ago, the Dubai Shopping Festival has played a major role in promoting the retail sector as a key driver of the economy, said Satish Mayya, Chief Operating Officer of BPG MAXUS. “Shaikh Mohammad’s decision will not only boost the retail sector but will enhance Dubai’s position as a shopping centre by attracting bigger number of tourists,” he said.

Helal Saeed Al Merri, Director-General of DTCM stated: “Retail has been a major driver of the year-on-year growth in visitor numbers to Dubai and is of crucial importance to the emirate’s GDP [gross domestic product]. Through the development of festivals such as Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Summer Surprises, DFRSPE has played a fundamental role in developing and promoting the sector and in ensuring collaboration between the government and the private sector. Further growth of this sector, including the development of more retail-related festivals, is a major part of our strategy to deliver the tourism vision for 2020. One of the pillars of this strategy is to position Dubai as the ultimate family destination, and with retail and festivals being key to this, DFRSPE will act as a catalyst for further growth.”

History

Going back to 1996, The Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE), formerly known as the Dubai Shopping Festival Office, was created to be the executor of the Dubai government’s policy to position Dubai on the world map as a leading tourism, shopping, and business destination.

Under the umbrella of Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, DEPE is responsible for developing the events and retail sectors to help promotes and supports retailers, festivals and the numerous events held in Dubai each year, ensuring there are numerous attractions and reasons to visit the Emirate, its festivals, malls, souqs and high streets at any time of the year.

In 1998, and following the success of the first two editions of DSF, the Establishment launched Middle East’s first and biggest summer event – the Dubai Summer Surprises, followed by Eid in Dubai and Ramadan in Dubai in 2008.

Since its inception, DEPE managed to attract a mind-boggling 100 million visitors to Dubai who spent more than Dh150 billion during their stay in the emirate.

The Establishment’s vision is to be the driving force in promoting Dubai as a unique global shopping tourism destination and it currently has a mandate that allows it to work more closely with the retail and events sectors to create a stronger platform in this direction, under the name of Dubai Festivals and Retail Sector Promotions Establishment (DFRSPE).