When the Dubai Shopping Festival started, most of its activities were concentrated in Al Rigga Street. The street was more like Champs-Elysées, with paved sidewalks, restaurants and cafés on the other side. One of the oldest and most famous business centers in Dubai, this is the highlight!

Then the global village appeared in the square opposite the Dubai Municipality building, a group of small stalls representing the countries of the world, there were not many tourist areas, the number of malls was simple and limited, and the hotels were not in the hundreds. However, the Dubai Shopping Festival was a spectacular success, Attracts millions of visitors, raises retail sales and gold, and becomes a distinctive symbol of Dubai, surpassing the city to its counterparts in the region.

As Dubai develops, the number of malls has doubled, and the world's largest shopping mall has emerged. Hotels and hotels have multiplied and tourism areas and destinations have increased. Downtown Dubai is already the world's tallest square kilometer and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard is a fanciful street compared to Al- In addition to a small game area opposite Al Ghurair Center, we now have the largest open playgrounds in the world. Area, as well as the largest closed games city.

In spite of all this, the Dubai Shopping Festival has fallen so much, it has not been brightened, it has not developed properly for the development of the city. On the contrary, the city has developed and surpassed the festival, so that we can say now that it is almost dead and not felt by anyone.

One of the most important reasons is the end of the teamwork and the disappearance of the task forces. The festival is no longer a shared responsibility of all the local constituencies, and the departments no longer contribute to it, as it was before, where everyone placed the festival at the top of the interests and priorities. And there is a general coordinator who is following closely what is happening in the field. There is an enthusiastic and active group of UAE youth working day and night. There is no room for complacency and no room for lack of production, contribution, creativity and innovation.

Austerity, lack of disbursement, curtailment of budgets, reduction and cancellation of many events, are also other reasons, while pumping money in the shopping festival certainly means an increase in the overall yield, an increase in visitors and an increase in the economic activity of the entire city and all its sectors, It is not an issue that is required to be canceled in order to save money, and the money spent on it can not be classified as wasted.

The revival of the Dubai Shopping Festival, which has been dead for many years, is enough to bring back the industry we were the first to start in the region, reviving it is not an impossible task, Dubai's enormous potential allows it to organize the best, largest and largest festival in the region. Teams, and give room for young local constituencies to start working!

twitter @ samialreyami

reyami@emaratalyoum.com

To read the previous articles of the writer please click on its name.