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Shop to your heart's content with Dubai Festivals app

Dubai - Here's how the app meets six pillars of Shaikh Mohammed's Smart City initiative

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With the concept of 'smart city' taking over the emirate, there is no way the renowned Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) would be left behind. This year DSF's organisers - the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) - launched the "Dubai Festivals" app, a new platform specially created to strike a chord with smartphone-savvy residents and holidaymakers.
Within first 10 days of its launch, the app recorded over 25,000 downloads on iTunes and Google Play stores, and serves as a handy guide for discounts and deals taking place as part of DSF's 21st edition.
"In this modern age of instant communication, DFRE is keeping abreast of all technological tools to connect to its diverse audiences in Dubai and around the world. In fact, our global marketing campaign relies heavily on digital communication channels including our website (www.mydsf.ae) and social media platforms to create awareness and promote the 32-day DSF 2016 to families and tourists across the world, especially in our strategic markets," Laila Mohammed Suhail, CEO of DFRE, an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), told Khaleej Times.

DSF social media channels: Website: www.mydsf.ae Mobile App: "Dubai Festivals"; available on iTunes and Google Play Facebook: www.facebook.com/DSFsocial Twitter: @DSFsocial YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/DSFsocialTV Instagram: @DSFsocial (#MyDSF)

'Unwrap the Exceptional' with the app> Win weekly draw prizes including iPhones, PlayStations, shopping and wellness vouchers worth thousands of dirhams, courtesy of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB). > App users are automatically entered into the ADIB Mega Draw, where lucky winners will receive over 2.5kg of gold to be announced on February 4

DFRE is active on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, which encourage visitor interaction and participation in its line-up of events and activities, giving an enriched experience to festival-goers. DSF 2016 is the first festival to be featured on the exclusive Dubai Festivals app, which was created in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB).
According to a representative from the DFRE Media Centre, DSF annually attracts on an average of 4.5 million visitors and aims to keep up the momentum. In the near future, this app could assist tourists as an additional platform to help them plan their itineraries around exclusive festivals in Dubai, prior to their arrival.
The Dubai Festivals app aligns itself with the Dubai Smart City initiative; a strategy launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform the emirate into an interconnected city with efficient services for the benefit of its people.
Following the six pillars of a Smart City - that is, life, society, mobility, economy, governance and environment - DFRE plays a unique role in engaging people in Dubai via smartphones with ongoing discounts and offers, and further enhances the drive for constant innovation and shapes events that Dubai has become famous for.
Tried and tested
Thane Lindstrom:
"We live in an era where mobile devices give us instant access to all kinds of info - any time, anywhere - at our fingertips. If we have apps like Zomato that help us choose what to have for dinner, then why not one for events, too? Dubai Festivals app is easy to use and navi-gate. As a smartphone user, I can see myself referring to this whenever I want to find good DSF discounts in a mall I'm already in."
Dilukshi Thomas:
"The Dubai Fes-tivals app on my iPhone is such a great little find! It is so user-friendly and has all the different deals in one place. This makes bargain-hunting an easy task and something I love to do while waiting for a meeting to start or standing in line for my morning coffee. I think DSF as an experience has evolved in the last few years and new in-novations like this smartphone app make the festival acces-sible to many more people."
Abdulla Abdul-qadir Abood:
"I think the Dubai Festivals app is a great way to keep in touch with all the offers going on during DSF. It is organised and very easy to search accord-ing to my interests. What I really like about the app is that when you find an interesting offer, you can locate exactly where it is. I am proud to see the organisers of DSF help Dubai make such wonderful progress to become a Smart City. Keep up the good work!"
farhana@khaleejtimes.com