When Alda de Araùjo Vicente Marcade, a Brazilian national living in the UAE uploaded an Instagram photo of her family standing at the beach in front of the Burj Al Arab, little did she know that her family in Brazil would win a free trip to Dubai.
Marcade was one of the handful of winners of the #MyDubai social media competition by Dubai’s Department of Tourism.
Over the last few weeks, residents across the city have been uploading images of their life in Dubai onto their social media platforms for a chance of winning two Emirates return flights for their friends and family to visit them from anywhere in the world.
Gulf News speaks with the Brazilian mother of two, living in Dubai. Her visitors are enjoying three more weeks in Dubai.
Here is the winning image that she uploaded on to Instagram:
“I chose to upload this picture because of the beautiful backdrop of Burj al Arab in Jumeirah and because we had a wonderful experience visiting the beach and looking at the striking architecture of this iconic building,” Marcade said to Gulf News. When she discovered that her family was coming to visit she was extremely excited and thrilled at the prospect of having them here in Dubai all the way from Brazil. “I could not believe it when I received the news that I had won the competition!”
Marcade chose to invite her sister and niece, who recently arrived in Dubai and are having a great time. “I work as a tour guide and am honored to be able to share the culture of Dubai with my close family. I have been living here for 16 years with my husband and two teenage daughters, and enjoy sharing my knowledge with everyone that comes to visit. The Brazilian people in particular love to come to Dubai!”
Before the visit, Marcade put together an itinerary of all the attractions and locations that she wanted to take her visitors to see. This included checking out Dubai Parks & Resorts, Aquaventure, Dubai Frame, Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa, and the Dubai Fountains.
“In addition to this, I had scheduled some downtime on my itinerary so that my visitors could also have the opportunity to relax. Downtime included La Mer and the beach at JBR. We also went for walks around Dubai Miracle Garden, Old Dubai, Madinat Jumeirah and Al Seef. We have managed to tick off a lot of these already but still have much to look forward to over the next few weeks.”
Out of everything they have done so far, her guests loved exploring old Dubai and were very interested in the history of the city, as they immersed themselves in the culture.
The #MyDubai social competition is still ongoing and will continue to select two winners each week until further notice. So make sure you upload your best photos of the city with the hashtag for a chance to win.
