A Disneyland right here in Dubai

This year, it has had 4.5 million visitors, and the figure is still rising as it moves closer to the last day of its 16th edition on March 31. As this testimony of great success unfolds, Lily B Libo-on has a chat with Saeed Ali bin Al Redha, CEO of Global Village, the man who has been steering the village to success for the past six years. His dream is to see Global Village become a Disneyland in Dubai.

Q: What was the most important experience that inspired you to lead the Global Village?

A: My business experience comes from my private family business. My father, the late Haji Jan Ali Bin Redha, was one among the famous businessmen in Dubai. We had several businesses, and I just stayed in this family business. Later, working with Emirates Airline and Dubai Development and Investment Authority were my golden days. In my last two years in the procurement with Emirates Airlines, I learned a lot. And my manager mentored me. The second most important was with the Dubai Development and Investment Authority, where as a team, we learned how to do it and when to do it. Our leader, Mohammed Al Gergawi, used to involve us in lots of businesses. Those were the golden days. Everything I did helped me lead the Global Village to success.

In your 15 years of management experience, has there been a time when you adopted crisis management?

Frankly, the biggest crisis was the global financial crisis that occurred at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009. That time, the Global Village was running. The biggest crisis was when we were told to open the village. At that time the economic crisis was just into six months. And every businessman was worried of running a project or even to do any activity. It was a tough decision for me to drive the Global Village with a proper plan, proper execution, strategy. And thank God we achieved our target.

How did you steer the company to stay on track and achieve over target despite the economic meltdown?

My focus is always to put a simple strategy, a simple objective for Global Village. We did not do anything that was impossible to do. Within the leadership in Global Village, we agreed that we would run but we would not spend money without knowing the revenue and what would be the impact on it. We considered it very crucial where to spend the money and when we would require our execution. We entered into a strategic partnership with the local media, and we reduced our expenditure on ads. We also entered into partnership with government authorities and gave our investors more opportunities.

Has there been a time when your family has been pushed to the background because of your responsibilities?

You are right. There have been times when we have to deliver, and extra time and focus are required. It is true that my time is lesser for the family at certain times. The good thing is that my father has come to support me, by way of managing my family — my mom, my wife, my children — we are in one home. I appreciate this so much. So they cannot feel that Saeed is not at home. But, I make sure that once a week, Saturday during lunch time I spend more time with my family. I allocate time, and they respect that. We have 20,000 to 25,000 visitors on an average daily, and 75,000 weekend visitors. But, whenever I have time to go on a vacation, I take my family.

What is the secret in striking a balance between your personal life and your corporate life?

My secret is being honest. I am honest with everyone. In turn, they give me respect.

As a CEO, what was the vision that first came to your mind to take the Global Village to the next ten years and beyond?

My first thinking was to make Global Village like USA’s Disneyland in Orlando, Florida. I would like to turn it into a real theme park, which will become the talk of the town.

Do you think you are on track?

When I became a CEO in 2006, I put the plan. I put the strategy. But, in 2008, the leadership had to remap the strategy amidst the global financial crisis. But, we made a long term plan for five years to focus on the Global Village’s brands, on the standards, on the quality of service. We focus on health and safety. We focus on environment and on corporate social responsibility. We focus a lot and develop a lot on CSR.

Have you ever experienced some degree of fear either in making marketing decisions or in implementing strategies?

A: I would be frank. The fear I have is about being cautious, being careful about my decisions because this is not my money, and not my company. This company belongs to the government. So, whatever decision I make should be thought out carefully and reviewed properly.

You are a recipient of three prestigious awards. Have you ever thought of training your two kids the way you have been to ensure one day they will be like you?

Absolutely. And this is what I do now with my children aged 11 years and 6 years. When we go to a supermarket, I start explaining to them why we buy this and why we select this. I am training them to make decisions on what is good for them, and also for other people around them.

What was the Global Village’s footfall this February?

This season, the Global Village has crossed the 4.5 million as of February end. We are expecting another half a million visitors during the last two weeks of March because of the school holidays in the GCC. This is the longest season since the inception of Global Village due to the extension up to March 31.

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