“Dubai Calendar”, the official listing of all events taking place across the Emirate of Dubai for the whole year, is taking its efforts to promote Dubai as a world class events hub in the region to the next level. Ten months after it was introduced by the Government of Dubai, “Dubai Calendar” is launching a major new campaign that will commence this March and run for one year. Running across regional and local TV, billboards and print, with installations and activations at Dubai International Airport, in addition to its colourful and highly interactive website www.dubaicalendar.com, the campaign encourages residents, business and leisure visitors to find out more about events being held in the Emirate in the coming 12 months.
The campaign coincides with one of the most vibrant and eventful months of the year in Dubai. This March, Dubai will be the host of many international events, and “Dubai Calendar” will be highlighting this fact by showcasing six major happenings in the next 30 days – the Dubai World Cup Horseracing, The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, the Dubai International Boat Show, Dubai Art Week, Duran Duran live in Dubai, and The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, in addition to many other events. The campaign illustrates the breadth and quality of the cultural, sporting, music, consumer and business events hosted by the Emirate.
Managed by The Dubai Events & Promotions Establishment (DEPE), “Dubai Calendar” works as a multi-faceted vehicle to promote Dubai’s strengths as the region’s leading events destination, build its events sector, and support the city’s economy. It is also the only official, bi-lingual source of information on events in the Emirate. The popular website contains up to the minute information on each of these high profile events being staged in Dubai in March, as well as a host of other festivals, concerts, sporting occasions, arts and cultural happenings, exhibitions and conferences, trade fairs and expos being held throughout the year for residents, business and leisure visitors.
Ms. Laila Suhail, Chief Executive Officer, DEPE, says that this campaign – starting this month but running throughout the year – is in line with DEPE’s efforts to find and create innovative ways that helps in building “Dubai Calendar” as a brand that symbolises the energetic and lively spirit of Dubai. It will also work as a communication tool to attract visitors, tourists, businessmen, families and many other target audiences to Dubai, thus cementing the Emirate’s position as a destination for all.
Ms Suhail says, “The importance of “Dubai Calendar” comes from its ability to reach out and benefit various stakeholders. It benefits tourists by giving them advance notice of the attractive events coming up in any given season, allowing them to plan in advance for their holidays; it also benefits local and international events organisers to plan their events in Dubai and avoid overlapping; while it allows retailers to plan their promotions and campaigns coinciding with major events in Dubai. All these benefits will surely help us develop the events sector in Dubai, making it more lucrative for the local economy across its sectors.
“The “Dubai Calendar” website attracted an audience of more than 55,000 unique visitors from around the world in January alone, just eight months after its launch, it is clear that the Dubai Calendar is already filling a much needed gap in the market,” Suhail concluded.
The “Dubai Calendar” campaign showcasing key events taking place in March, and subsequently every month throughout 2012, will feature across popular local and regional TV channels at least three times a day during peak hours, capturing the attention of people watching both Arabic and English language channels. It is supported by outdoor and print advertising, as well as a publication, the Dubai Calendar Events Guide, which will be distributed in the UAE 12 times a year from March. A partnership with Dubai International Airport will also ensure that everyone flying to or through terminals 1, 2 or 3 will also be introduced to the Dubai Calendar. Special promotional units with touch screens will be positioned at prime locations in arrival and departure terminals to engage arriving passengers. Travellers using Dubai International Airport wi-fi will also be connected to the Dubai Calendar as soon as they log on.
Starting from this month, the first active external promotion of the Dubai Calendar with international travel trade audiences will begin through presence at fairs and international workshops in Germany, Russia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
For more information, visit www.dubaicalendar.com
