'Eid in Dubai' initially targets tourists from GCC countries

Dubai: The "Eid in Dubai" celebrations organised by the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) Office will bring in more tourists from GCC states and will target international markets in the future.

"This year the focus of 'Eid in Dubai' is only the UAE and neighbouring countries. Hopefully this will grow to the whole of region and beyond," said Laila Sohail, chief executive of DSF Office.

Comparing the celebrations to DSF, she said initially, the target of the festival was localised, and then grew to include a much larger scope of audience.

"The same will happen with 'Eid in Dubai' definitely," she said.

She said that since it is a holiday that is already well established among Muslims, it has a huge potential to grow.

"We are only adding value to a product that is already very rich," she said.

"Eid is a religious festival and we are converting that to a destination brand, whereby during this period of time, in addition to local and residents of the UAE, we are also targeting people from the neighbouring countries to come to Dubai and celebrate Eid through all the activities being offered to children and families.

"The concept is to promote the spirit of this time, by converting it to a celebration, focused on one of the aspect of entertainment," she said, adding that over the coming years more activities will be included.

The DSF Office is packaging all the activities during the holidays and promoting them and adding more in terms of plays, children activities in order to create a three to four days' as a festival by itself, Sohail said.

"A lot of events organising companies put together shows and concerts during Eid and what we are doing is packaging it and adding more in terms of children and family oriented events," she said.

Speaking on the impact of tourism, she said that while a lot of people travel out of Dubai during Eid, a lot stay back as well. Additionally, a lot of visitors come in to Dubai as well, she said. "The event will encourage families to stay and enjoy during Eid holidays."

"Inbound tourism will definitely have an impact," she said, adding that they are working with researchers to understand how the tourists who will come in will impact the cultural aspect of promoting the Eid in Dubai and the overall celebration aspect.

"This will be out first experience, and we will build upon it. We will learn from our mistakes and achievement to improve the events every year."