Monday, March 1, 2010

Cultural Aspects of Dubai

Dubai has developed from a sleepy desert fishing village to one of the most modern cities on the planet. Like the rest of the UAE, the city of Dubai is filled with a rich cultural heritage that has been strongly influenced by its once desert and oasis living people who were adept at surviving in one of the harshest climates on Earth. No wonder the skills of desert life are held in high esteem by many of the UAE’s people – as members of the older generation remember that these were crucial to their own survival. The modern visitor can experience desert life by taking part in a range of organized desert trips that usually include transport by four-wheel drive vehicles, camels or sometimes horses. A night spent under the stars is usually of the most memorable experiences of a visit to Dubai.

Some aspects of Dubai’s culture can be seen by visiting places still favored by local people such as the fishing harbors or fish souks, boat-building yards, gold souks, spice souks, falconry centers and other venues. Throughout the year various cultural events such as exhibitions, theatrical displays, sporting events, lectures etc. are organized by different bodies like the Emirates Heritage Club which runs camel races, dhow races, longboat races, and a host of other activities that encourage and develop interest in the UAE’s culture and heritage.

Meanwhile the Cultural Center in Abu Dhabi also holds quite a number of important cultural events and can also be a good source of information about what is happening on the cultural front in the UAE.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Dubai Picks Up in Advertising

What a relief! It sure looks like the advertising sector in Dubai has received a much needed boost. Over the last quarter 2009, there had been relatively few events to celebrate except Christmas. It is the time when most of the expatriates go home and are on winter holiday to meet their families and friends. This time the winter holidays coincided with the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Azha which was closely followed by Muharram, the start of the Islamic New Year. Due to the worldwide recession, the start of the New Year 2010 was a bit muted. However, the Western world did celebrate the traditional winter holiday season as it does every year.
There’s always something happening in Dubai and this year is no exception. The year has already kicked off with the opening of the Burj Dubai, or Burj Khalifa as it has been renamed in honor of the ruler of Abu Dhabi. The International Autumn Trade Fair Exhibition is scheduled to be held from 17-19 January at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center. Then the Dubai Marathon will take place on Jan 22. A Career Development Conference once again at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center starting on 31 Jan brings up the end of the month’s activities. It will be a good opportunity for both employer and employee to meet across the table and discuss the difficulties and challenges to a worthwhile long term relationship that can be based on trust and truthfulness instead of mistrust and deceit.
February will start off with the Small and Medium Enterprise Conference scheduled on the 2nd. This is expected to provide a much needed boost for these businesses, no less important than others to the local economy. This will be followed by the International Property Show, which has been taking place for the last five years and is an ideal platform to open the door for global investment and development opportunities. Hopefully it may bring about some positive developments in the local property market. The reading needs of children will be addressed at the Dubai International Children’s Book Fair also scheduled for 2nd Feb. The Office Exhibition in the second week of February is expected to care for the needs of office spaces in Dubai, concerning office furniture, décor, technology and consultancy needs. Bringing up the start of March will be the Commercial Vehicles Middle East Conference. It is a rather special event directed towards all types of commercial vehicles, parts and services and attracts transport, fleet and logistics managers from regional commercial enterprises and procurement officials from the region’s transportation departments. This will feature an exhibition area, specialized seminars and technical workshops plus a display area.
All these events and seminars are excellent opportunities for the involvement of the advertising sector and it is expected that there will be a good measure of competition and creativity to both get these accounts and prepare and execute the advertising campaigns. Dubai always brings out the best in innovation and insists on something new or larger than life. The newspapers, billboards and other media were full of the event opening of the Burj on the 3rd and 4th of January, and it is hoped that the rest of 2010 will be as auspicious and eventful for the advertisers at Dubai Media and Internet City. As the economy picks up, there will be a reach for classifieds sites Dubai and classifieds websites Dubai are expected to be full of business and work opportunities once again. Indeed, this is hoped to be the case with all of the UAE classifieds websites in the Middle East.