Global Village, Dubai Culture Destination

According to the latest World Travel and Tourism Council report, the UAE has topped the list of 11 countries in the Middle East with a GDP contribution of 22.6% generated by tourism activities. On top of that, the sector is projected to generate over $250 billion in 2008 in the Middle East. What is your overall assessment of the tourism industry in Dubai?

Tourism is one of the industries that will have the most impact on the economy of the United Arab Emirates and Dubai itself. We are hoping to heavily contribute to the tourism industry and to contribute to attracting tourists to Dubai. This is a very huge sector for us in Dubai and also for the Global Village. We have a plan to work heavily to attract tourists as well as families, which will contribute to the overall economy of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.

In this context, how realistic is the target to attract 15 million tourists in 2015?

To attract 15 million visitors in 2015 is not an easy target, it’s very challenging. There is a lot of thought behind it as well. We are going ahead with that challenge to reach 15 million visitors. We have a lot of projects in Dubai; some are under construction and some of them have already been delivered. The Global Village will be delivered in 2009 and we will welcome people in the fourth quarter of 2009. So, we will be contributing to achieving that challenge of attracting 15 million visitors.

To attract 15 million visitors it requires tremendous growth. However, how confident are you that this growth will continue in the wake of global economic slowdown?

I’m very confident. Frankly, Dubai and the whole globe has faced several problems and issues. In Dubai, we are part of that world, however we also have strong strategies to face those problems and we will use it to our benefit in the end. First of all, Dubai is a very secure place. It also has a fast-growing infrastructure; there is a plan for a new airport and for introducing a new metro, for example. So, all of that will help to adapt to any issues happening in surrounding countries and we believe we will continue our strategy of serving people and attracting more tourists to Dubai.

Global Village was launched under the umbrella of Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding. What role is the Global Village playing in fulfilling of the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum and the 2015 strategic plan?

Located in Dubailand, we will be the first cultural theme park in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates and even in the region. That will help us a lot to attract tourists and fulfill His Highness’ vision to attract more tourists to Dubai as a city and to the Global Village. Now, we have a seasonal event; we have 4.5 million visitors in 3 to 4 months. However, when we go permanent, we feel that the number of tourists will increase because, apart from the Global Village, Dubailand also has several projects. In the end, we believe we will fulfill His Highness’ vision maybe in only a couple of years.

Global Village is a leading culture and entertainment destination for families. What is the Global Village’s specialty and how does it compete with other similar theme parks?

First of all, we are a very culture-oriented project focused on families and on a different part of the world; we will present a lot of things related to art from different countries. We will also focus on entertainment and education for families. We will have a lot of food and beverage outlets from all over the world. You will find restaurants from France, India, Lebanon, etc. All of that will have an impact on differentiating the offering that we will provide to our visitors. Besides that, we will have hundreds of shows; we are aiming at 10,000 shows per annum. So, we will give a different kind of offering to our visitors.

What are some of the newest attractions and projects to further improve and facilitate your operation? We heard that you have it in mind to go permanent.

Yes, let me go back one step. We started in 1996 as a seasonal project. Every year we used to open for three to four months of operation. We used to welcome people from all over the world. However, we’ve decided that in 2009 we will open the permanent project where we will welcome people from all over the world for 365 days a year. We start from morning up to midnight. First of all, we will offer the 6 pavilions that we discussed, around 12 major restaurants surrounding the 800 m canal where there will be different activities, for example international shows, which will be free for our visitors. We will also have offerings for kids; we are planning to open a Little Big Club, which will be the first children’s club in the world with four characters: Barney, Pingu, Thomas and Bob the Builder. It will be the first time these four will come together under one umbrella and that will open in 2009. This is phase one. In phase two, we are going to build some hotels; five and four star hotels. We will also have furnished apartments; basically to welcome our tourists from all over the world. The hotels and apartments will be within the park itself. Also, we are planning, for phase three, to have indoor and outdoor funfair areas and a retail zone.

In 2008, you’re going to open for the last time as a seasonal attraction. When will that be?

It will be from 12th November 2008 to 21^st February 2009. That will be 83 days with different offerings from different countries, and shows that will help us to close our last seasonal event and then we will start our new life, which is the permanent pavilion that we will open in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Dubai has created probably one of the best city brands in the world, what is the responsibility of global village towards promoting Dubai? And how does Global village communicate with the outside world in order build the brand and recognition and also to attract shows and retailers?

As you know, the Global Village has a strong history of bringing all cultures and countries under one umbrella. So, from that concept, we are going to the international market saying that we will have different representatives from different countries, retailers and shows representing many countries. All that will be offered under one umbrella to our visitors. We are basically focusing on and promoting the Global Village but at the same time Dubai as a secure and safe city attracting people from all over the world.

Once finished, the Global Village will be the biggest cultural theme park. This creates a tremendous challenge. So, what are some of the major challenges you are facing?

We are facing a lot of challenges and today we have specialists to deal with them and make it happen in 2009. We brought specialists in cultural sectors so that we are able provide our own shows. The challenge is to have people like artists from all over the world. We are recruiting people; by 2009, we will have around 400 artists. Besides that, we will bring artists just for seasonal periods and seasonal shows; for a month or a week. So, that’s difficult to bring to this part of the world because it’s not easy to bring people from Europe, Africa, Asia, etc to Dubai and present them to our visitors and residents. However, I believe we will achieve that despite the challenges and we will present a different cultural and edutainment sector to our visitors.

How do you address corporate social responsibility in the Global Village? Are you offering educational programs?

We are offering education from edutainment; this means that we will educate people through entertainment. So, it’s not a school but we will educate our visitors about the culture of different countries, their dances and arts – European art is not the same as African art, for example. We want to bring that and show that it means something, that behind it there is history or a story. Basically, what we will do is present that in an educational manner so that people understand what a Flamingo Dance is, for example, where it came from, how it happened and there are plenty of cultural dances that we will offer to our visitors and educate them about.

What do you expect from your expansion plans in terms of your financial performance and your contribution towards Dubai?

As we discussed at the beginning of this interview, our first aim is to attract people to Dubai and our aim is also to contribute to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed’s vision to attract 15 million visitors in 2015. To do this, it requires a lot of investment. Also, our project is very unique, it is not replicating any project from any part of the world; the Global Village was created in Dubai and developed in Dubai. To do that it requires a lot of time, expertise and money. So, we will invest in the Global Village ourselves to make it international and to go abroad and present how Dubai can create new projects and handle new projects that have not been created anywhere else in the world.

You are also part of Dubailand. When the area is finished, how do you imagine it will be for a visitor coming here?

It is not easy to imagine Dubailand, which is three billion sq. ft. of land attracting millions of visitors. We are aiming to attract to Dubailand the biggest number of His Highness’ vision, which is 15 million visitors. So, we are aiming to have the majority of those visitors coming to Dubailand. Today, we are implementing the best master plan in the region and very high standards; we are a considering quality, health, safety, environmental issues, etc. We are ensuring very high standards are implemented, which are for the future – another 15 to 20 years. Our plan is very big and in the end we will complement each other; we are not challenging each other with the megaprojects that we have. Our visitors will visit Universal Studios, Freej, and the Global Village. So, all the projects under the umbrella of Tatweer and Dubailand are having a huge impact on attracting tourists.

You mentioned how difficult it is to communicate because it’s a new concept that you are presenting to everybody, especially to the retailers. How do you plan to attract these people who are also going to participate in the success of the Global Village?

Our marketing team is working with a lot of marketing teams within Europe, Africa and Asia to promote this project. There are a couple of ideas that we are implementing now. Once we know of people who are representing their country with cultural shows, we will go to those people and present the Global Village and we will make it easy for them to come to Dubai and represent their country; cultural shows, food and retail. We have a strong team within the Global Village to help them, to provide facilities and services linked to the government departments. So, we have that link. We have a strong link with embassies and consulates in Dubai to put our concept on the floor and take it to the wall.

What is the most famous show that you have been able to attract or that you will be able to attract in the future?

We started with two international shows for families in 2008. The first show was the Barney Show; it was the first time we brought the original Barney Show to this region. We presented it at the temporary Global Village. It was fantastic; we got a lot of calls from families saying they wanted us to repeat those shows. Then, last month, we brought the Mickey Magic Show for the first time from the Disney Live Show in Dubai for the first time in the region. This was also fantastic. So, these two shows were unique shows in Dubai and the region and we are continuing to bring these kinds of international shows, which will have a huge impact on the number of visitors and the number of tourists in Dubai.

In terms of clientele coming here to the Global Village, if we look to 2010, what kind of profile of tourists would you attract? Would it be families? What nationalities?

I believe, in 2010, we will change the method of attracting tourists in Dubai. We will attract a lot of families and tourists because the majority of the projects in Dubai today are related to retail and malls. So, we will be the first theme park to present a different offering to the tourists of Dubai and tourists of this region so that they can see a different kind of theme park with shows from all over the world. Authentic retailers from all over the world will be in Dubai and it’s very difficult to do that or even to imagine it. However, when we open in 2009 and 2010 it will be a really different concept for the tourists of Dubai and I believe, when it goes to the market, the number of tourists to Dubai will increase and at the same time, besides families, we will have a lot of children.

What about in terms of geographical area?

Since the Global Village started in 1996, 12 years ago, we have had a strong relationship with visitors from the region; Arabs, Indians, Iranians, Pakistanis. We have a very strong flow of visitors coming from that part of the world. However, in future, we will focus on attracting more tourists from Europe and America to Dubai.

For the next, and last, seasonal opening in December, are you going to do something special?

Every time we do a seasonal event, we do a special offering. Last time it was Barney. This time we are talking with international companies to bring a very unique show to Dubai, which we have not finalized yet but which will be finalized in a few weeks.

What has been your greatest achievement so far and where would you like to take the Global Village in the future?

My greatest achievement is converting a seasonal Global Village to a permanent Global Village and taking it to an international standard. This is not easy to do because we have a lot of competitors in the regional market. We built our value proposition and our strategic plan and we are implementing them. By 2009, we will open and that will be my biggest achievement. In the future, we are aiming to replicate this project somewhere else outside the United Arab Emirates. It will have a big impact on the project itself to have unique cultural, music, art and international shows. So, we hope that in a couple of years we will have a branch of the Global Village somewhere else outside Dubai.

As the CEO of the Global Village, what is your personal ambition? What else would you like to achieve?

My personal vision is to contribute positively to achieving His Highness’ vision because it is an honor for us, as CEOs, to deliver His Highness’ vision, which is very challenging and requires a lot of effort to deliver it; 15 million visitors by 2015. If I got a chance to contribute to delivering that vision, that would be my ambition. In the end, it’s for the benefit of the city and all of us in Dubai.

How do you see Dubai in 10 or 15 years time?

Your question is very difficult. It is even difficult for us to say what we see in two or three years. Every six months, Dubai is changing; new projects are being built and delivered. However, from my point of view, I feel Dubai will be a challenging and advanced country, like New York, Singapore or London and maybe even be a threat to them!