The Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE), an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) and organizers of Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS), announced the addition of Syria in this year's roster of countries participating in the award-winning Apprenticeship Programme, an annual training and industry-exposure programme for the best and brightest university students throughout the Middle East & North Africa.
Now in its fifth year, the Apprenticeship Programme 2010 invites a total of 50 universities across 10 key countries in the region, including UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria.
Each country will be represented by a Business Administration or Marketing student who will emerge at the top following a highly competitive selection process. The winning apprentice gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to work on DSS – one of the biggest tourism marketing success stories in the region.
Since its inception in 2006, when the programme started with only four participating universities in two countries, the programme has expanded in coverage and scope and was one of the primary reasons cited by the IPRA Golden World Awards, the Oscars of the public relations industry, in awarding the Travel and Tourism Award 2008 to the Dubai Shopping Festival Office.
As in past editions, universities and colleges have been invited to nominate six of their brightest senior students from the Marketing & Business Administration streams to participate in the selection process, which this year includes an essay writing component inviting students to share their ideas on how they would promote DSS in their local markets. A special jury comprising key DSS staff and other marketing professionals will evaluate the applications and select the winning apprentice for each country.
The apprenticeship covers return flights to Dubai and accommodation at Qamardeen Hotel, a Southern Sun operated property conveniently situated in the Downtown Dubai district. The winners will work closely with the DSS team throughout their two-week internship, gaining valuable training and exposure to best practices in business administration, marketing and events management in a real-life situation, executing campaign strategies and working directly on one of the biggest tourist and commercial events in the world. The DSS Apprenticeship Programme will also present winners with a unique and valuable opportunity to establish a great network of potential future employers and corporate mentors.
"The DSS Apprenticeship Programme is one of the most successful initiatives to be developed and launched by DEPE. The success of the programme is not just linked to the ever-increasing number of participating universities, but to the growing prestige of the programme and massive regional media interest generated each year. The programme plays a key role in demonstrating Dubai's position as a key hub for talent and innovative ideas and embraces the creative spirit that has driven the development of many of Dubai's key initiatives," said Laila Suhail, CEO, DEPE.
Suhail added that the 2010 edition will witness Syria's participation in the DSS Apprenticeship Programme for the first time – an addition that is expected to add further value to the advantages the programme offers participants on account of the strong academic reputation of Syrian universities and educational institutions. "We look forward to welcoming the winner from Syria who will join the student delegates from the nine other MENA countries in order to enhance the value of this year's edition among participants. We also hope to further expand the list of participating countries to include other important and emerging markets from the region in future editions of the DSS Apprenticeship Programme."
Students have been busy over the last one month preparing their submission material where a jury will select winners based on the quality of their essays and completion of required documents, as well as their character, ambition, energy, and potential to make a valuable contribution to the continual enhancement of DSS. Winners from each of the ten markets will be announced shortly.
