Dubai
Dubai is one of the fastest growing and most exciting and vivacious cities in the world.
With all-year sunshine and reputation as an essential place to do business, Dubai has continued to attract world attention through innovative real estate projects, world-class sports events, conferences and enormous construction and development in various industries.
Positioned between Europe and Asia, Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.
The city is unusual in that its population is comprised mainly of expatriates and is home to some 100,000 British and other westerners.
Entertainment and Sport
Dubai has many malls with international stores, theatres and food courts. Ibn Battuta Mall is the largest themed mall in the Middle East and features impressive courts including China, Persia, India, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia. The city’s Mall of the Emirates is one of the largest malls in the world and houses the world’s first indoor alpine ski resort, Ski Dubai.
Dubai also has a vibrant and diverse nightlife, with many state-of-the-art nightclubs and bars in all corners of the city. It also offers a great range of activities from watersports in the sea to dune bashing in the desert.
Dubai is also host to some of the world’s best sporting events. As well as the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Dubai’s impressive portfolio of world-class events includes the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament, the Dubai Rugby Sevens and the Dubai World Cup, an annual horse racing event with over US $21 million worth of prize money.
The Aviation Club
The Aviation Club, home to the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships is one of Dubai’s premier leisure facilities and one of its most popular venues.
The Akuru Spa
The Akura Spa is a tranquil escape from the bustle of the city and is the club’s newest and most elegant addition. The club also has a state-of-the-art fitness and recreation centre and entertaining social hub with a myriad of dining options.
Eating out in the Aviation club
The Cellar is a comfortable and relaxed contemporary restaurant with contrasting industrial and modern versus traditional themes.
The Century Village is an enchanting restaurant complex adjacent to the Dubai Tennis Stadium which hosts entertaining outdoor jazz evenings and other special events. Menus are from around the world and include Japanese to Portuguese cuisine as well as Arabian to traditional British style fish 'n' chips.
The Irish Village is a traditional Irish-style pub and an old favourite in Dubai. It's a fantastic establishment with its own paved courtyard, shady trees, pond and ducks!
Currency
The local currency is the U.A.E Dirham. The Dirham is fixed against the US Dollar at the rate of Dhs. 3.65. Dollars are widely accepted in souks and shops. Other exchange rates (subject to change): US: 3.67 UK: 7.25 AUS: 3.33 EURO: 5.44
Language and religion
The official language is Arabic but English and Hindi are widely spoken. Islam is the majority religion of the Emiratis while there are also minority Hindus, Sikhs and Christians.
Dress Code
Dubai's liberal attitude means that there is not much that visitors to Dubai cannot wear. However, as in all countries, a healthy respect for the local customs and sensibilities do not go amiss. Dubai is an Islamic state and dress should be modest, especially when visiting the traditional areas of the emirate.
Lightweight summer clothing is suitable for most of the year, but something slightly warmer may be needed in the evening for the winter months. During the day, good quality sunglasses, hats and sun-cream are definitely needed.
Drinks
Dubai water is drinkable but bottled water is available and is reasonably priced.
Tipping
Practices are generally the same in Dubai as elsewhere in the world. Even where a service charge is applied, staff expects a little extra. Ten per cent is acceptable in hotel restaurants, while for luggage porters at the airports a tip of Dhs 20 is acceptable.
Economy
Today, Dubai is an important tourist destination and port but is also increasingly developing as a hub for service industries such as IT and finance, with the new Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The property boom is largely driven by mega-projects, whether off-shore such as The Palm and The World or inland such as Dubai Marina, the Burj Dubai Complex, Business Bay and Dubailand.
The aspirations of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, are reflected by the ultra-modern architecture of the city such as iconic skyscrapers such as Emirates Towers and the magnificent Burj al-Arab, currently the tallest hotel in the world.
Dubai Duty Free are the owners and organizers of the Dubai Tennis Championships
Dubai Duty Free opened for business on December 20th 1983 and achieved first full year sales of US$20 million. In 2007, sales reached US$880 million representing a 24% increase over the previous year and had recorded a total of 18,995,635 sales transactions, translating to an average of 52,000 sales transactions per day, up by 18% on 2006.
In addition to being an innovative retail operator, Dubai Duty Free also runs innovative and successful promotions: the world famous Finest Surprise Luxury Car draw and the Millennium Millionaire. Both promotions have captured the imagination of travelers around the world and their popularity shows no sign of abating.
To date, Dubai Duty Free has received more than 140 awards from industry, media and government bodies which bear testimony to the operation’s retail success.
2007 was also a year in which Dubai Duty Free received international recognition from the media and duty free industry which culminated in the operation winning the prestigious Frontier award for ‘Airport Retailer of the Year’ in Cannes last October. Other top awards included the Business Traveller UK award and the Business Traveller Middle East award for ‘Best Duty Free Shopping’, along with the Raven Fox Award for ‘Middle East Travel Retailer of the Year’.
On a personal note, Dubai Duty Free’s Colm McLoughlin was presented with the inaugural award for ‘Outstanding Career Contribution to Airport Commercial Business’ by The Moodie Report – the most widely read online travel and retail information source.
In 2008, Dubai Duty Free received its first award of the year by being presented with the Global Traveler Award for the ‘Best Duty Free Shops’ at a glittering ceremony held in New York. The Global Traveler Awards are the result of a reader’s survey which attracted a record 15,828 responses. The 2007 survey included a ‘Best Duty Free Shops’ category for the first time.
On the sporting front, the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, which is owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free, was twice named ‘Tournament of the Year’ based on the votes of players and officials. In September 2007, the operation announced a US$9 million sponsorship agreement with Barclays who have become the title-sponsor of the tournament from 2008 – 2011.
Other sports benefiting from the operation’s sponsorship and support include major golf tournaments, including the industry-focused Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, horse racing events, international powerboat racing, rugby and basketball among others.
Looking towards the future, Dubai Duty Free will continue to grow and expand in line with the multi-billion dollar expansion plans at Dubai International Airport.
The opening of Concourse 2 and Terminal 3 this year, will result in the retail operation more than doubling in size from the current 7,000 square metres to 15,000 square metres. In line with its expansion plans, Dubai Duty Free will increase its staffing levels from 2,000 to 3,000 in the coming months and will open a new Head Office, along with a new Warehouse and Distribution Centre in the first quarter of this year.
Dubai Duty Free is also planning the retail operation in the impressive Dubai World Central which will eventually handle 120 million passengers.
Innovative Promotions
Dubai Duty Free’s reputation as an innovative operation is further sealed by the success of the long-running Finest Surprise Luxury Car draw, which began as a one-off in December 1989 and continues to capture the public’s imagination. With 1,000 tickets offered at US$138, passengers have the chance to win a car or more recently, a Harley Davidson motorbike with tickets costing just US$27.
Over average, Dubai Duty Free present a luxury car every week of the year, and since its inception have had over 1,350 winners from 68 different countries.
The success of the Finest Surprise led to the launch in 1999 of the Millennium Millionaire which offers 5,000 ticket holders the chance to win US$1 million. Intended as a one off to celebrate the millennium and the opening of the Sheikh Rashid Terminal (April 2000), the Millennium Millionaire promotions has resulted in over 78 dollar millionaires.
Tickets for both the promotions are available online at www.dubaidutyfree.com
Future Growth and Expansion
Looking towards the future, the US$4.1 billion airport expansion that includes the construction of the new Emirates-dedicated terminal (Concourse 2 and Terminal 3) will provide Dubai Duty Free with over 8,000 square metres of additional retail space. The new airport at Dubai World Central (Jebel Ali) is also very much in the plans for the near future.
Staffing levels look set to increase in the coming year from the current 2,000 to around 3,000, while Dubai Duty Free’s revenue is expected to reach US$1 billion in 2009.
Dubai Duty Free and Sport
The 2008 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships is owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free. This year’s event is expected to be every bit as exciting as the 2007 tournament which saw the Roger Federer win the Dubai Men’s Open and Justine Henin win the Women’s Open.
That both the Sony Ericsson WTA and ATP events are one of the few venues outside of the Grand Slams to have equal prize money at $1.5million shows the depth of Dubai Duty Free’s forward thinking. As a result of this the stars flock to be in the draw and both Roger Federer and Henin are four-time winners.
Attracting worldwide media attention, the tournament creates huge publicity for both Dubai Duty Free and the emirate. Dubai Duty Free is also a global sponsor of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
Much awareness is also created by the operation’s involvement in racing. In the UAE, the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free, the penultimate race on World Cup night is the joint-richest turf race ever held at $5 million.
Looking further afield, Dubai Duty Free also sponsors major race meetings in Ireland – at the Curragh for the Darley Irish Oaks meeting, in the UK – at Newbury for a Spring and Autumn meeting and in Ascot, where Dubai Duty Free are title sponsors of the Shergar Cup in August.
Another common Dubai passion is golf and this is another sport to benefit from its association with Dubai Duty Free.
The operation is a proud Official Sponsor of February’s Dubai Desert Classic, held at the Emirates Golf Club, which this year saw the winning form the World No.1 Tiger Woods.
On top of this, Dubai Duty Free hosts five tournaments throughout the calendar, including the highly successful Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, which attracts over 100 representatives from the Duty Free industry each year.
Other sports to benefit from Dubai Duty Free’s support include World Offshore Powerboating, which is a firm favourite in Dubai, as well as the yearly Dubai International Basketball Championships, at which Jordan’s Fastlink team are sponsored by DDF.
But the rugby highlight of the year for everyone in the Emirates is undoubtedly the Dubai round of the IRB Emirates Rugby Sevens, held in December at the Exiles rugby ground until 2008 when the tournament moves to its new venue. 16 of the finest international sevens teams battle it out over two days in the opening leg of the series, and each year Dubai Duty Free sponsor one of the teams.
By supporting so many events at the highest level and all around the globe, Dubai Duty Free is effectively promoting Dubai’s sporting, leisure and business facilities, which are second to none. With more and more world-class sportspeople choosing Dubai to showcase their talent there is set to be much more to come in the future.
