Wednesday, Apr 04, 2012
Gulf News
Dubai: The Global Village ended its 16th and longest season yesterday with average consumer spend estimated at Dh1.75 billion, its chief executive told Gulf News.
About five million visitors flocked to the outdoor entertainment venue and the average spending per person was about Dh350, Saeed Ali Bin Reda, chief executive of Global Village, said.
The Egyptian pavilion emerged as one of the top-sellers with Dh100 million in sales, Ebrahim Jaber, chief executive of 3B United Group, which constructed and operated the pavilion, said.
With a budget of over Dh6 million, they spent about Dh2.5 million on renting the land, Dh1.5 million on the Egyptian Museum that replicated original pieces in the Cairo-based museum, and the rest on construction and entertainment activities, he added.
About 100 shops participated, 400 exhibitors and 10,000 Egyptian workers were involved in the pavilion.
Best Pavilion award
The Egyptian, Lebanese and Iranian pavilions won the Best Pavilion award during a ceremony yesterday.
The Best New Idea award went to the Egyptian Museum.
The top three retailers were Dutch Pancakes, Batatee5 that offers creative ways to serve watermelon, and Mochilato that serves Japanese ice-cream.
Among the media awarded for coverage of the Global Village was Gulf News reporter Aya Lowe.
Visitor demographic
Bin Reda said that 30 to 35 per cent of Global Village visitors were tourists. This jumped to 90 per cent during the venues last week.
The majority of tourists were from neighbouring GCC countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman.
They were followed by Arabs, Asians and lastly Europeans and Americans.
In a study conducted by the management, exhibitors said profits were better this year than last and increased by an average of 13 to 15 per cent.
During its current season, the Global Village hosted 29 pavilions featuring 45 countries, with Tunisia, Spain and Kyrgyzstan making their debut.
The 2,600 shops were run by approximately 10,000 staff.
By Deena Kamel Yousef, Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
