MAF Shopping Malls, the region’s leading shopping mall developer with an established network of operating centres in the Middle East and North Africa, touched record levels of visitor traffic during this year’s Dubai Shopping Festival which ended on February 24.

MAF Shopping Malls, a company under the Majid Al Futtaim Group, reported that its flagship malls, Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre, together welcomed over five million visitors.

Mr. Fareed AbdelRahman, Vice-President – Divisional Asset Management for MAF Shopping Malls, said that most visitors at the two malls were tourists who were keen to explore the attractive bargains available at over 466 retail outlets in Mall of the Emirates and over 370 stores in Deira City Centre.

“Dubai is synonymous not only with a robust hospitality industry but also with world-class tourism and shopping facilities, as a result of events such as the Dubai Shopping Festival and the Dubai Summer Surprises,” AbdelRahman said. “This year, the visitor traffic has surpassed all our expectations and we hope to engage our customers with many more interesting events in the next festival.”

The recent festival, which marks the 12th year of MAF Shopping Malls’ association with DSF as a Key Sponsor, saw both Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre lining up a host of attractive promotions and family-oriented entertainment initiatives designed to give their visitors a complete shopping experience.

During this Shopping Festival, Deira City Centre chose motor-sports as its central theme for all its mall activities. In keeping with the theme, the mall offered shoppers innovative campaigns such as the “Race Track Challenge”, “Make a Fashion Pit-stop” campaign, and the opportunity to win limited-edition Corvettes designed by racing legend Ron Fellows. Recently, the campaign saw the mall walking away with the DSF Innovation Award for Best Shopping Mall Promotion.

Mall of the Emirates provided visitors a mix of diverse global entertainment activities including acclaimed Caribbean band, Solid Steel, South African jass-dance group Umoja, Europe’s leading dance production troupe Extravadansa, and Bollywood music group Bollywood Dreams.