The Crowne Plaza’s Holiday Center Shopping Mall has reported a 20% increase in foot traffic since the launch of its Community Activities Program last year, signifying the popularity of malls that are seen as community oriented by Dubai residents.
While many tourists and visitors to the UAE prefer to patronage the larger shopping malls, residents of Dubai are opting for the smaller community malls that offer a variety of ‘involving’ activities aimed at both children and adults.
Since the launch of its community activities program, Holiday Center has hosted a number of different events and activities aimed at promoting a more ‘community’ oriented shopping destination. In the past few months, the mall has hosted a Chinese cooking class, two art exhibitions, a make-up seminar, a “Scrapathon” tournament organized by the Emirates Scrapbook Network and a Craft Bazaar. In addition to these, Holiday Centre has hosted a number of activities aimed at children (great news for wary mom’s), including an egg hunting competitions during Easter, Kid’s Day and more recently, an extreme sports exhibition.
Holiday Center recently hosted the Arabian Treasures Exhibition, which took place from July 20th to the end of August. The exhibition was aimed at creating awareness of the quality of local handicrafts in Dubai, and was a great opportunity for local artists to showcase their works.
“Holiday Center has always prided itself on the creativeness of our events, and the fact that they cater to a wide variety of people. Since the launch of community program, we have seen a marked increase in the number of patrons to the shopping mall”, said Ms. Banu Tas, Operations Manger for Holiday Center.
Ms. Tas continues “People like the fact that our mall is more than just a place to shop. It’s a place for people to come together and take part in activities aimed at enhancing community involvement and giving Dubai residents the chance to try new things and exercise their creativity”.
