Dubai Festival City to make Mid East expo debut at Arabian Travel Market

The signature 'city-within-a-city' destination will be showcased on a 50 square metre stand at Arabian Travel Market, the region's premier travel and tourism show, which takes place at the Airport Expo Dubai.

The diverse shopping, leisure and sports offerings of Dubai Festival City will be a prime focus of its Arabian Travel Market stand.

'Dubai is the shopping hub of the Arabian Gulf and the region's leading leisure destination,' said Lee Tabler, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Festival City LLC. 'The emirate is targeting tourist arrivals of 10 million by 2010 and we see these visitors as a key target for us. Tourists will converge on Dubai Festival City as it will be a centreplace destination, much as Covent Garden is to London, or St. Mark's Square is to Venice.

'Tourism will have the most dramatic short-term impact on Dubai Festival City. Tourists and consumers want unique experiences and new things to consider, explore and enjoy. They are looking for the next horizon and how they can add more to their leisure experience. Dubai Festival City will offer this.'

High on Dubai Festival City's ATM promotional agenda will be its championship 18-hole golf course which is currently taking shape on the waterfront site. The course, designed by acclaimed golf course designer Robert Trent Jones II LLC, is due for completion by the end of this year and should be playable early next year. It will be the emirate's sixth all-grass 18-hole course.

'This course, which is differentiated by its oasis-style theme set in the heart of the city, will further enhance Dubai's growing reputation as an international golfing destination,' said Tabler.

Other world-class sports offerings are to be included into the Dubai Festival City masterplan, which spans 15 varied communities and includes over a quarter of a million square metres of central retail space, edutainment facilities, a marina, canal and hotels.

'Quite simply there is nothing like it within the region for scale or scope,' said Tabler. 'To put it into perspective, when complete, around 75,000 people will live, work and play in Dubai Festival City.

'Dubai Festival City will be the regional family entertainment centre, a preferred shopping location where people can relax in a wide range of food and beverage options. The hotels will provide an automatic customer feed to all the entertainment, retail and sports facilities.'

Arabian Travel Market is the first international travel and tourism event at which Dubai Festival City will participate. 'Our aim at ATM is to introduce the Dubai Festival City project onto the local, regional and international travel and tourism stage, to generate new contacts and partners,' said Tabler.