Retain residents and attract visitors. In 50-degree heat. And over the summer holiday.
That, in a nutshell, is the lofty ambition the Dubai Summer Surprises team has aimed to realise year on year, for a quarter of a century. A look back at the shopping and entertainment festival’s history — and numbers — proves it’s very nearly succeeded.
The year is 1998. Dubai is inching its way upwards on the global tourism map, thanks in part to Dubai Shopping Festival. DSF began in the winter of 1996 with the aim of drawing more visitors to the UAE at a time when the weather is at its most pleasant and before the scorching summer sees the emirate at its emptiest.
There is only one problem, though: the word “emptiest” does not quite figure in this city of superlatives. And so Dubai Summer Surprises comes into being, running for the duration of the summer — and offering massive discounts, high-profile performances and tonnes of indoor family-friendly activities, all overseen by its cheery yellow mascot, Modhesh.
Obviously the first-ever DSS does not outperform the first-ever DSF, which reportedly attracted 1.6 million shoppers, but it still manages to attract more than 600,000 visitors who spend Dh850 million in its debut year, with similar figures reported in 1999 and the early noughties.
The year is 2003. Dubai does not want to be labelled as just another shopping destination, so DSS steps in and introduces Mind’s Pleasure seminars to its calendar.
Open to the public, the seminars offer tips on social, economic and spiritual issues. One of the most memorable speakers in this series, Kevin Abdulrahman — voted Best Motivational Inspirational and Leadership Speaker in the Middle East — gives a talk called “Get Inspired, Get Informed and Get Going” during the event in 2012.
Flash forward to 2005. The Collectors, a DSS-sponsored exhibition, is launched, featuring eccentric collectibles from across the Gulf; think classic cars, cultural artefacts, swizzle sticks and phone cards. In 2010, for example, Dubai homemaker Fathia Al Qassab showcases her collection of Kinder Surprises — the plastic toys enclosed in Kinder chocolate eggs — as part of BurJuman mall’s DSS activations.
The year is 2008. DSS is converted into a government body. In previous years, the festival had been administered directly by the emirate's Economic Department, but its growth prompted the government to establish a stand-alone autonomous office to run the event — to great success. The festival welcomes 2.1 million visitors, who collectively spend Dh3.25 billion over the summer. That same year, Mall of the Emirates famously has to increase its parking spaces by 200 to accommodate shoppers.
The following year, 2009, is a tough one, following the financial crash. Undeterred, the Dubai Shopping Malls group dedicates a total of Dh5m in raffles, while the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing launches a kids-go-free offer to coincide with DSS. From July to September, one child from each family enjoys free flights, meals, hotel stays and entrances to attractions. In 2010, Emirates becomes the first airline in the Gulf to arrange online tourist visas to coincide with DSS in a bid to boost visitor numbers.
These efforts pay off, as reflected in the numbers recorded in 2011 and 2012: four million visitors spend Dh9bn and 4.36 million visitors spend Dh12.3bn, respectively. Despite DSS only running for a month in 2012, so as not to overlap with Ramadan, Majid Al Futtaim, the biggest operator of shopping malls in the UAE reports it as its most profitable festival so far.
Raffles and retail therapy aside, DSS has also made a name for itself in the entertainment arena. With outdoor concerts out of the question in the summer months, the festival instead brings family-friendly shows and high-profile performers to malls and other indoor arenas. From a giant pillow fight in The Dubai Mall in 2013 and shows by characters from Transformers in 2014, to performances by Jaden and Willow Smith in 2015 and Zendaya in 2017, the festival is a study in entertainment variety.
The year is 2018. Dubai is now home to a host of new attractions, from IMG Worlds of Adventure to Legoland. These along with 30 of Dubai’s best-loved attractions come together to launch the Dubai Pass to coincide with DSS. The pass offers families savings of up to 60 per cent, cementing the festival’s going-beyond-retail philosophy.
Then along comes the pandemic. While the 2020 festival goes ahead as usual — starting soon after the UAE’s stay-at-home measures lifted — a number of brands introduce or expand their online offerings in the summer, while other temporarily suspended acts also choose to reopen during DSS, most notably the popular acrobatic water show La Perle.
Food is the trump card in DSS’s 2021 arsenal, with the event launching the first Summer Restaurant Week last year. This programme brings some of the city’s best restaurants — such as Carnival by Tresind and Social by Heinz Beck — to serve up limited-time menus at lower prices. That year also includes high-octane performances by Arabic stars Balqees, Saif Nabeel and Mohammed Assaf at the Dubai World Trade Centre; and Bollywood singer Sunidhi Chauhan and Pakistani maestro Rahat Fateh Ali Khan at the Coca-Cola Arena.
The venue’s general manager Mark Jan Kar told The National at the time: “We work together with … Dubai Summer Surprises to find ways to drive benefit to the city.”
That retention-attraction ambition — despite the 50°C heat and over the summer holiday — seems to be working, then.
DSS is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. More details on sales, raffles and performances can be found here and on www.dss.ae
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
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Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
