KidZania® at The Dubai Mall simulates ENOC service station job experience for children

1. Sponsored by ENOC, the KidZania® Service Station helps contribute to authenticity of motor vehicle upkeep
2. Activities include customer service and filling the tank
3. Opportunity to purchase entry tickets to KidZania® at special pre-opening prices

The latest commercial establishment to tie-up with KidZania®, the soon-to-open edutainment centre at The Dubai Mall, is Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC). The company signed a partnership agreement with Emaar Retail – which manages the leisure zone – to simulate a real-life service station in the children’s city.

A mini-city scaled down to the size of children, KidZania® will feature various aspects of real-life including a bank, hospital, offices, an airline counter, fire station and a service station, among others. Children, around the world have already warmed up to the mascots of KidZania® – Urbano, Vita and Bache.

KidZania® is all set for the grand opening in January 2010 and visitors have the opportunity to purchase their tickets at special pre-opening prices from The Dubai Mall.

The ENOC service station will be located within the Driving Streets section of the city and simulates key features of a full service unit, contributing a high degree of authenticity to the experience of motor vehicle upkeep.

The station will be equipped with realistic, functional equipment, and all operational aspects will be managed by children, who will undertake the professional roles of service station attendants.

Mr. Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Retail, said: “The most powerful learning for children comes from hands-on experience. KidZania® highlights this by offering them the opportunity to associate with work environments such as ENOC service stations that every child in Dubai is familiar with. Through a role-play experience within the real-to-life ENOC service station at our edutainment centre, they will understand the nature and scope of work undertaken at this vital business unit that contributes to modern life.

With this partnership we will also be selling entry tickets to KidZania® from select ENOC service outlets in Dubai. This service will provide our customers with convenient ways to experience KidZania®.”

Saeed Abdullah Khoory, ENOC Group Chief Executive said: “The concept of KidZania® is truly different and we immediately responded to the opportunity to be the sponsor of the service station In addition to creating a platform for fun activities, the ENOC KidZania® service station also serves as an ideal example of how the facility functions in real-life, thus adding to the knowledge-base of children.”

The various activities at KidZania® contribute to the development of skills and attitudes in children, stimulate their creative thinking, strengthen self-esteem and confidence and foster interaction amongst children. The overall concept aims to teach children how adults work in real life and that they must work to earn money through work.

As a full-fledged mini-city, KidZania® has its own currency, KidZo, which is initially provided to the child visitors for taking part in various activities in the leisure zone. If they run out of money, they can take up from a range of ‘professions’ and earn KidZos. KidZania® also offers children the opportunity to take up role-plays including that of surgeons, artists, construction workers and mechanics, amongst others.

ENOC will also open a Pronto Café outlet within KidZania®, providing a convenient rest-stop for parents while their children participate in the role-play activities throughout the site.

The Dubai Mall’s Entertainment Precinct also features SEGA Republic, a 76,000 sq ft indoor theme park; and the 22-screen Reel Cinemas with a seating capacity of up to 2,800 seats.  Other leisure components within The Dubai Mall include Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo and Dubai Ice Rink.

About The Dubai Mall:
The Dubai Mall is the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination spread over a total area of 12 million sq ft. With a total internal floor area of 5.9 million sq ft, the mall has 3.77 million sq ft of gross leasable space which hosts 1,200 retail stores including over 160 food and beverage outlets in food courts that have a capacity to seat 3,000. The Dubai Mall offers an unparalleled retail mix combined with world-class dining, entertainment and leisure attractions. The leisure attractions include The Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, which features the largest acrylic viewing panel in the world and a walk-through tunnel. The Olympic-sized Dubai Ice-Rink is another key leisure attraction and a destination for skating enthusiasts.

Fashion Avenue, a 440,000 sq ft fashion precinct dedicated to haute couture, positions the mall as the fashion capital of the region; while the Gold Souk is a sprawling gold and jewellery retail showcase with over 200 stores. The strong family entertainment theme includes KidZania®, an innovative children’s ‘edu-tainment’ concept that is being introduced to the region for the first time; SEGA Republic, a 76,000 sq ft high adrenaline indoor theme park; The Grove, an indoor-outdoor streetscape with fully retractable roof, and the 22-screen Reel Cinemas with a total capacity of up to 2,800 seats. For the convenience of visitors, the mall offers over 14,000 car parking spaces.

About Emaar Retail:
Emaar Retail is a wholly owned subsidiary of Emaar Malls Group LLC and is the vehicle for all retail operations. Emaar Retail is developing a portfolio of brands in key growth markets and is strategically building new alliances, joint ventures, franchises and licenses for all mall developments under the Emaar Malls Group umbrella. Emaar Retail also manages the business operations for The Dubai Mall’s leisure and entertainment brands including KidZania®, SEGA Republic, the Olympic-sized ‘Dubai Ice Rink’ and Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo. Emaar Retail has also entered into a joint-venture with Cathay Organisation Holdings Ltd in Singapore, to form Reel Entertainment to develop cinemas across the region including the flagship 22-screen cineplex at The Dubai Mall. Emaar Retail was established to drive Emaar Malls Group’s developments in key emerging markets across the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Sub-Continent through creating the right retail mix for the various markets.

About Emaar Malls Group LLC:
Emaar Malls Group LLC, is the retail and shopping mall subsidiary of Emaar Properties PJSC. Emaar has announced investments in shopping malls of over US$4 billion (AED 15 billion) with 10 million sq ft of retail property in operation or under development in the emerging markets of the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and South Asia and is on target to become one of the largest developers of shopping malls in the world. At the forefront of these developments is the flagship The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest mall, in the heart of the Downtown Burj Dubai. Emaar Malls also operates two other malls in Dubai; Souk Al Bahar, an Arabesque shopping and entertainment development on The Old Town Island, and Dubai Marina Mall, a lifestyle shopping mall for residents of the Dubai Marina community. Internationally, Emaar Malls is actively planning or developing shopping centres in Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and continues to drive the company’s expansion strategy on a global scale.

About Emaar Properties PJSC:
Emaar Properties PJSC, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, is a global property developer with a significant presence in several key markets world-wide. Besides building residential and commercial properties, the company also has proven competencies in shopping malls & retail, hospitality & leisure, education and healthcare. For more information, visit www.emaar.com.

About ENOC:
Established in 1993 as a wholly-owned company of the Government of Dubai, ENOC aims to promote the interests of its shareholders through the development of further downstream and upstream activities in the oil and gas sector and beyond, and to encourage the economic diversification of Dubai and the rest of the UAE.
ENOC’s vision is to be a leading regional integrated oil & gas group that is highly profitable and socially responsible towards employees, the community and environment. Driving this vision, ENOC is committed to achieving sustainable development and highly profitable growth and serving the growing energy needs of Dubai. ENOC strives to attract, develop and retain top talent to become the employer of choice, while adopting latest technologies and implementing best practices to achieve world-class performance. ENOC is also focused on meeting and exceeding customer expectations in terms of quality and service, and in maintaining high industry standards with respect to environment, health and safety.
ENOC actively participates in an increasingly broad range of business ventures. Its joint ventures with major international companies allow partners to pool their technology, know-how and expertise along with their resources to further their commercial success. Since its inception, ENOC has been guided by its philosophy of quality and professional management based on modern business concepts for commercial success and sustainable growth. Today it is poised to engineer a new and challenging period of growth and diversity.