First DSF 2006 road show kicks off in Mumbai today

This will be followed by a Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) workshop on the festival tomorrow where a large delegation from the Dubai hospitality and travel trade will unveil their offers for the Indian visitors.

DSF Chief Operations Officer Ibrahim Saleh along with Major Omar Al Shamsi, Chief of the PR & Protocol Department, Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) and Tawhid Abdullah, Chairman of the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group (DG&JG) will be addressing the media at Taj Lands End Garden which is dressed in the festive spirit with huge gates and banners displaying DSF logos and performers gathered to depict the message of One World. One Family. One Festival. Meanwhile, two lucky representatives of the Press and Television media will, on the draw of calling cards, get two Emirates airline tickets to Dubai and be in the thick of the DSF 2006. In addition, the members of the media will also get a 'goody bag' containing an array of gifts and a Gold Coin courtesy the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group.

The DSF delegation, led by DSF COO Ibrahim Saleh, will give Indians an idea of how the Festival has evolved over the last 10 years, and what shape it would be taking in the next 10 years, the "beginning of a new decade" for the shopping and entertainment explosion that continues to be the talk of the globe when it comes to shopping festivals.

"Visitors to DSF 2006 can expect the world, and get it," Ibrahim Saleh said, before starting the India leg of the DSF road show. Terming DSF 2005 as a special one that made a special difference, Ibrahim Saleh said DSF 2006 would be an extra-special one, that will have everything that DSF 2005 had plus much, much more "more shopping, more winning and more entertainment for a total of 32 days from January 4 to February 4, 2006."

He said that Indians will find a galore of winning, shopping and entertainment with over 200 events of various cultures waiting for them. "They will get to feel real happiness, joy, excitement and adventure that Dubai offers to everyone. There will be shopping beyond expectation. There's a new Dubai coming up, much more exciting than the Dubai that the world already admires and loves, and with the new Dubai a new DSF," said Ibrahim Saleh.

Ibrahim Saleh will brief the attendees about the festival organising committee's carefully laid out DSF action plan that will go hand-in-hand with the 'new Dubai' that is shaping up and changing the very look of the emirate, making it today not just the most sought-after tourist destination but a place where the world's best can settle for whatever they want, leisure or business.

"This is a major step in achieving the target of attracting 15 million visitors annually by the year 2010 under the vision of HH General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defence Minister," Ibrahim Saleh said before setting out to the sub-continent."

After all that it would be but natural for him to take the opportunity to extend an open invitation to the people of India to come and experience the culture of the region during the shopping and entertainment bonanza, and the Indian media to participate in the DSF2006 Journalism Award (international category) that offers attractive cash prizes.

Said Tawhid Abdullah, "DSF is the best opportunity for Indians to optimise on the winnings Dubai has to offer in addition to the wide variety of international jewellery designs spanning from ethnic to contemporary, you will be spoilt for choice with over 700 jewellery outlets offering huge gold prices as incentives to all gold shoppers."

On his part, Major Omar Al Shamsi will be speak about how DNRD will be adding more Immigration counters for the arriving passengers at the Dubai International Airport so that the travel documents are processed in no time, that the number of counters will be increased to 44 besides the four for e-card holders which will function round the clock. "A royal reception
awaits all tourists arriving at the Dubai International Airport," he said.

The Dubai Shopping Festival 2006 runs between January 4 and February 4, 2006.