Largest footfall for a shopping mall

Fouad Mansoor Sharaf, the general manager of Mall of The Emirates, part of the Majid Al Futtaim group, one of the key sponsors of DSS said,

"In the first four weeks of DSS we welcomed two million visitors, we expect Mall of the Emirates to attract about six million visitors throughout the DSS. This time we are hosting eight of the opening ceremonies of the DSS weeks, in the Galleria area every Thursday."

Added Fouad Mansoor Sharaf, "The Majid Al Futtaim Group is considered one of the main supporters of DSS since its inception in 1998 when the Group started its sponsorship through Deira City Center." He affirmed the importance of the Group's participation in events that are organised by the Government of Dubai, boosting retail trade for the emirate.

Since its opening in September 2005, the Mall of the Emirates has grabbed the attention of many retail shops and also the public. In less than a year, the mall has become one of the most important shopping destinations in Dubai, with outlets for all the international brands, 420 shops -- 70 of which are exclusive to Mall of the Emirates, Ski Dubai, the ski resort, Magic Planet, and soon, the Dubai Art and Theatre center, and Cine Star cinema. The Food Court has 75 restaurants representing the cuisines of 11 countries. The Kempinski Hotel is also located here.

The mall has been designed to keep an area with different events; the Galleria was chosen to host the daily activities of the DSS. The mall also includes special wings/spaces for different events of each week organised by various Government departments. The Galleria hosted the opening ceremony for DSS 2006, and the opening ceremony of the Ice Surprises, where an ice-rink was put in the middle of the court. The Shangrila band performed an ice show which amazed both children and adults. The Chinese Acrobats also performed an amazing act, the Galleria hosted Disney characters as well.

There is also going to be a lot of pleasant surprises for the visitors of the mall in the coming weeks. Mall of the Emirates will host surprises with educational aspect, and there is no doubt that these surprises will stand out. The upcoming surprises including the ongoing Cartoon Surprises with Walt Disney characters, the recently-concluded Adventure Surprises week with the Chinese Circus, and the forthcoming Nature Surprises with a chance to see big animals. And the Flower Surprises week with The Hanging Gardens of Babylon theme.

Fouad added, the revenue of the outlets at Mall of the Emirates grew tremendously compared to the regular days. In addition to the promotions and discounts that the outlets have to attract more customers. Every visitor that spends stands a chance to enter a draw to win 50,000 dirham daily and a grand prize of a two bedroom apartment. These prizes are given by DSMG.

The 10-week long DSS, which opened with Ice Surprises week on June 21, celebrated the Arts Surprises Week, Food Surprises and Adventure Surprises and continues with the weekly themes of Cartoon Surprises, Nature Surprises, Knowledge Surprises, Flower Surprises, Heritage Surprises and will conclude with Back-to-School Surprises on September 1.