The Global Village, the greatest attraction of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), will soon begin to play a greater role in attracting visitors to Dubai, according to Ibrahim Abdul Rahim, its director.
The event is to be packaged under a new brand image that is to attract greater visitor traffic to its new venue at a 17.4 million square feet site, four times larger than the present one, close to the Emirates Road, which is to become part of the massive Dubailand development.
The Global Village already has a new logo, and will run for three and a half months from January 15 to April 30 next year, in its bid to establish its own brand identity. In this process, the management of the Global Village will be restructured to become independent of the DSF office.
This year, 38 national pavilions, 50 restaurants, 40 kiosks and 120 games and rides have been put together at the Village, in which over 5,000 exhibitors are showcasing their wares.
Hundreds of government employees from Dubai Municipality, the Department of Economic Development, Dubai Police, and Department of Civil Defence are working round-the-clock to ensure safety, security and a healthy environment.
Dubai Municipality has spent Dh50 million on developing the new Global Village site, where DEWA has set up substations to supply 12MVA power.
Abdul Rahim said the Dubai government has a larger plan for the Global Village. "We are moving to the new and permanent venue of the Global Village near the Emirates Road later this year which will eventually be part of Dubailand," said Abdul Rahim. "It will assume a greater role in attracting visitors to the new tourism destination."
He said the management of the Global Village will become independent of the DSF office. Currently, the Global Village team operates out of its makeshift temporary offices at the Global Village at the Dubai Festival City.
Global Village was conceptualised as an added attraction for the DSF way back in 1996, where various countries were invited to set up their own national pavilions to showcase their ethnic and traditional crafts, at the Creekside car park in Deira.
Two years later, it was moved to a much larger location behind Wafi Shopping Mall, where the event was held from 1998 to 2001.
In 2002, Global Village was moved to a temporary venue at the Dubai Festival City, expected to move to a more permanent venue within the Dubai Festival City. This plan appears to have changed.
Gulf News
