Varied entertainment, social and shopping events took place over past 12 months

Al Ain, UAE, 14 January 2016: Bawadi Mall, the largest in Al Ain city, is celebrating record footfall of 10,401,415 in 2015, an increase by 3% over 2014. According to Bassam Saleh, Bawadi Mall's Marketing Manager, the mall succeeded in attracting shoppers from all segments of society throughout the year, mainly from the UAE.

All-round growth in operations across the 400 retail outlets was witnessed during the period. Moreover, new openings took place in 2015 to cope with the growth in population, increased per capita income, and higher demand for quality and innovative services. Ikea, the Swedish retailer, famous for its ready-to-assemble furniture and home accessories, launched a sales concept that is new to the UAE - a customer ordering and collection point in Bawadi Mall to serve  Al Ain.

The Urban Structure Framework Plan of Al Ain has projected that number of tourists in the city would reach 710,000 in 2020 and 1,071,000 by 2030. The same report suggests that retail space would reach 800,000 sq.m.

Bawadi Mall began the year with an exciting 40-day 'Win Daily' campaign that drew thousands of visitors to Al Ain city. The campaign picked one lucky winner daily, and the prizes were redeemable at any of the mall's 400 outlets. Concurrently, a tempting offer was rolled, asking visitors to answer 9 questions to reward their mother with a voucher worth 20,000 dirhams. Moreover, the mall rolled out an entertainment campaign to mark the start of spring, coinciding with UAE school holidays. Tagged "Funtastic Kids Entertainment", the campaign featured activities like Magic Show, Puppet Show, Bubble Show, Comedy Show, Jugglers, Mascots, Face Painting, and Balloon Benders.

Skilled aerial acrobats zoomed 25 feet high, to the delight of astonished visitors in May. The trampoline wall show featured acrobatic gymnasts performing choreographed acts and daredevil stunts using either a wooden or transparent scaffolding frame. In addition, Bawadi Mall organised a Win Daily campaign that attracted a record number of 18,825 entries in just 15 days. Total number of visitors exceeded 449,553 during the campaign.

Eid-ul Fitr activities at Bawadi Mall included a Hungarian basketball dunk team show, clowns, comedy show, and kid's arts and crafts, cartoon characters, and magicians. Moreover, Bawadi Mall's retailers remained open for longer hours, launched sales and promotions, big raffles and tickets to draw customers. Alongside, visitors to Bawadi Mall watched extravagant magic shows.  Roaming 'Minions' characters interacted with visitors and posed for photos.

On community engagement level, Bawadi Mall hosted a major campaign focused on raising awareness about children suffering from diabetes. The campaign was organised by Ayla Bawadi Hotel in collaboration with several sponsors, including Imperial College London Diabetes Centre.

Famous 'Shaun the Sheep' made an appearance at Bawadi Mall for a week in August. Around six events brought smiles on kids' faces in free live shows in a brand new dance adventure format, featuring the popular Shaun, Bitzer and the Farmer characters as part of 'Shaun the Sheep' performances.

Bawadi Mall celebrated all major occasions, including Back to School activities. Moreover, the mall triggered shopping sprees through mega promotions and raffle draws throughout summer, including those of Athlete's Co, Centrepoint, IKEA, Go Active Show with Ronald McDonald.

Bawadi Mall celebrated Eid ul-Adha by bringing back the Street Art Festival. Following the overwhelming success in 2014, Street Art Festival was much larger and included more activities dedicated for families. Around six human statues representing different characters internally developed by Bawadi Mall, to reflect the concept of Street Art seen in places like 'La Rambla' Street of Barcelona, Houston Street and the Bowery in New York City. Also, talented musicians, caricature comedian, hang drum performances, Kora players, as well as spray paint shows entertained Bawadi Mall visitors over 10 days.

During UAE 44th National Day celebration, Bawadi Mall marked the occasion with 9 days of celebrations. Musicians performed all over the place bringing alive the noble concept of the union.

"We had successful participation in Abu Dhabi Summer Surprises in which one of our shoppers won a Mercedes-Benz car. We were delighted with the overwhelming response to the largest number of activities held in one year. The growth in population and increase in demand for services contributed to our growth," added Saleh.

Saleh cited the example on the recent launch of the third branch of Al Noor Hospitals Group, Abu Dhabi's largest private healthcare provider eight next to Bawadi Mall. "Al Ain has all the elements of a global destination for residence and tourism. As a leading service provider for retail and entertainment, we take the responsibility to meet all the needs of families who visit us. I believe that our success is reflected in the large number of visitors to the mall this year, which exceeded all our expectations," concluded Saleh.

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© Press Release 2016