Emaar Retail welcomes over 4.75 million visitors to its leisure attractions in 2011

Emaar Retail, the premium provider of leisure and entertainment, welcomed more than 4.75 million visitors to its varied attractions in Dubai during 2011, recording a growth of over 13 per cent in visitor numbers compared with 2010.

Reel Cinemas, the cinemas owned and managed by Emaar Retail at The Dubai Mall and Dubai Marina Mall, welcomed more than 2.2 million patrons, with Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo welcoming over 1.1 million residents and tourists. SEGA Republic, KidZania and Dubai Ice Rink also reported robust visitor turnout.

Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Retail said: “The retail sector has traditionally been one of the backbones of Dubai’s economy. The city’s retail sector has been reporting consistent and sustained growth with Dubai serving as the hub for nearly 2.5 billion people from across the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, South East Asia and CIS countries, in addition to the fast-growing interest from markets such as China.”

He added: “To sustain the competitive advantage of Dubai’s retail sector, it is important to offer our visitors truly innovative retail and leisure choices. Today, leisure is an integral part of retailing and the challenge is to create innovative offerings that drive visitor traffic. Emaar Retail has set clear benchmarks in the retail and leisure sector of Dubai, which is highlighted by the impressive growth achieved by our leisure attractions in 2011.”

Emaar Retail also demonstrated its industry thought leadership with a clutch of awards last year, highlighting its commitment to overall operational excellence. Emaar Retail’s leisure attractions - KidZania, Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo and Dubai Ice Rink – won the Superbrands 2011 laurel, highlighting the strong brand equity achieved.

KidZania Dubai won the award for ‘Innovation in Retail,’ at Retail City Awards 2011, and was also a finalist at the Cityscape Awards for Architecture 2011 in the ‘Leisure – Built’ category. A path-breaking ‘edutainment’ centre located in The Dubai Mall and a key Emaar Retail leisure asset, KidZania also clinched the Image Retail ME Award as ‘Most Admired Retailer of the Year – Leisure & Entertainment’ and was Highly Commended at the Global RLI Awards 2011 for the ‘Most Innovative Retail & Leisure Concept of the Year.’

In addition, Emaar Retail won the appreciation of its industry partners and marked its industry thought leadership through strategic marketing tie-ups with leading organisations, and from the public with several millions visitors touring the company’s leisure assets in 2011.

Emaar Retail LLC has also joined hands with Giorgio Armani S.p.A to open its home furnishing store, Armani/Casa for the first time in the UAE at The Dubai Mall.