Saturday, Sep 22, 2012
Dubai
Dubai has been crowned the World Festival and Event City 2012 by the world’s leading events trade association, reports said yesterday.
The award from the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA) was in the category for cities with a population of more than one million. It follows Dubai’s victory in the same category for the Middle East last year.
Officials from the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment received the award at a ceremony in Denver, Colorado, United States.
Dedicating the award to His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Economic Sector Development Committee and Chief Executive Emirates Airline and Group, said: “In a matter of just decades, Dubai has transformed itself into one of the world’s leading destinations for leisure, tourism, business and trade. Festivals and events have been at the heart of this growth, thanks to the visionary leadership of Shaikh Mohammad, and a government that has invested in infrastructure, venues, attractions and festivals; working hand-in-hand with the private sector.
“The confidence in our city’s ability to deliver has never been stronger, and this is perhaps illustrated best by this year’s bid for Dubai as host City for World Expo 2020. The IFEA award provides an additional fillip to our bid, and will further spur and unite our efforts,” Shaikh Ahmad added.
Steven Wood Schmader, CFEE, President and CEO of IFEA said: “Dubai has discovered the spark that occurs when all of the many components of a city work together toward common goals. The brand of Dubai has grown quickly as the rest of the world begins to discover the many quality events and efforts going on there every day, and the leadership of Dubai and the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment has done a great job of harnessing and maximising the assets and resources that they have the good fortune of having at their table. The IFEA has the real pleasure of recognising all that the city is, has and will continue to do.”
The IFEA World Festival and Event City Award was designed and created as a way for the global festivals and events industry to openly encourage, support, learn from and recognize positive local environments for festivals and events worldwide.
This year’s success at the IFEA Awards builds on recent success for Dubai’s festival and events sector, including the title of Leading Sports City in the Middle East and Africa 2011; the International Convention and Congress Association’s Number One Business Destination in the Middle East 2011; and winner of last year’s IFEA World Festival and Event City in the Middle East. Dubai is now one of the global top ten urban tourism destinations, attracting 9.3million visitors in 2011.
Gulf News Report
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
