DUBAI // The Dh5 million prize for the Ultimate Big Ticket Raffle contest has been won by a group of colleagues at a travel agency.
The name on the winning ticket was Gulzar Shaikh, who will share the windfall with 20 of her coworkers from Sharaf Travel Services in Dubai.
The colleagues had bought several tickets each in the Dubai Shopping Festival promotion with the promise they would split the amount if they won.
Ms Shaikh said the group had planned the purchase of the numerous tickets to increase their chances of winning.
However, when she received the call telling her she had won, she thought it was a prank.
“When I received the call that I had won the Ultimate Big Ticket, I thought it was a fake call. Honestly, I didn’t even remember that it was the day of the draw,” she said.
“I just kept calm and quiet until I received the email from the Big Ticket manager confirming everything. Once I received it, word quickly spread and our whole Big Ticket team stood around excitedly waiting for the next call.”
The amount was then wired to her account and the first thing she did was take her family to a celebratory dinner.
She said she will use her share of the prize to pay off personal loans and take her son to Disneyland.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
