•Strong footfall highlights mall’s successful retail, entertainment mix

Dubai, UAE; November 15, 2008: The Dubai Mall, the city’s newest shopping and entertainment destination, recorded a massive visitor turn-out following it opening, with more than 60,000 tickets sold for the Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre in the first five days. The Dubai Ice Rink also drew over 5,000 skating enthusiasts.

Mr Yousif Al Ali, General Manager, The Dubai Mall, said: “The impressive visitor turn-out to The Dubai Mall to visit Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre and Dubai Ice Rink in the initial five days confirm the mall’s success as a strong family-oriented shopping and entertainment destination. The retail outlets, many of them opening their first shops or flagship stores in the Middle East region, also recorded higher than projected sales.”

Mr Suresh Bhatia, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Retail LLC, added: “The Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre has truly captured the enthusiasm of the visitors. The diverse array of aquatic animals and fish in the aquarium attracts family crowds, with children gaining a unique learning experience at the Discovery Centre, featuring otters and seals among other species. The Dubai Ice Rink is also a strong draw with adults and children enjoying its Olympic-size proportions.”

The Dubai Aquarium featuring the world’s largest acrylic viewing panel is a free attraction. The walk-through tunnel and Discovery Centre assures closer appreciation of the marvels of the aquatic world. The three distinctive themes at the Discovery Centre, Rainforest, Rocky Shore and Living Ocean, are a special draw among children, who also have the opportunity to touch-and-feel several aquatic species.

As part of its opening, the mall has opened several access roads including  from Sheikh Zayed Road, off Financial Street Road (previously Doha Road), Emaar Boulevard, Downtown Burj Dubai and through the newly opened bridge off Interchange One.

One of the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destinations, The Dubai Mall will have 14,000 parking spaces, most of which have already opened. A ‘car locator’ ticketing system has been installed in the car parks to make it easier for people to remember where they have parked.

With close to 600 retail outlets already open, The Dubai Mall will have over 1,200 retail stores and over 160 F&B outlets. Other popular attractions at the mall include the sprawling Gold Souk and the Fashion Catwalk atrium, which hosts fashion shows. Several F&B outlets have also opened for the convenience of visitors.

Sprawling over 12 million sq ft, with an internal floor area of 5.9 million sq ft and a gross leasable area of 3.77 million sq ft, The Dubai Mall attractions include The Grove, with its fully retractable roof, which will bring in an outdoor community feel with tree-lined walkways, a lifestyle retail mix and a mix of casual dining cafés and restaurants. The family entertainment precinct, opening in 2009, includes KidZania®, an 80,000 sq ft innovative children’s ‘edu-tainment’ concept, SEGA Republic®, a 76,000 sq ft high adrenaline indoor theme park and a 22-screen cineplex, the largest in Dubai.

Strong draw: The Dubai Mall hosted more than 60,000 visitors to The Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre in the first five days of opening.

Note to Editors

About Emaar Malls Group LLC:
Emaar Malls Group LLC, is the retail and shopping mall subsidiary of Emaar Properties PJSC, a leading property developer based in Dubai, and drives its diversification into shopping malls. This is in line with Emaar’s Vision 2010 to become one of the most valuable companies in the world. Emaar has announced investments in shopping malls of over US$4 billion (AED 15 billion) with 10 million sq ft of retail property in operation or under development in the emerging markets of the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and South Asia and is on target to become one of the largest developers of shopping malls in the world.

At the forefront of these developments is the flagship The Dubai Mall, one of the world’s largest malls in the heart of the Downtown Burj Dubai. Opened on November 4, 2008, The Dubai Mall is a premier lifestyle and entertainment destination. Emaar Malls Group is also developing two other malls in Dubai; Souk Al Bahar, an Arabesque shopping and entertainment development on The Old Town Island which is now open, and the Dubai Marina Mall, a lifestyle shopping mall for residents of the Dubai Marina community opening in late 2008. Recently, Emaar Malls Group unveiled Cairo Gate, Egypt’s largest shopping mall and leisure destination at the Cairo-Alexandria Project site, a mixed-use development spread over 160 acres.

About Emaar Retail:
Emaar Retail is a wholly owned subsidiary of Emaar Malls Group LLC and is the vehicle for all retail operations. Emaar Retail is developing a portfolio of brands in key growth markets and is strategically building new alliances, joint ventures, franchises and licenses for all mall developments under the Emaar Malls Group umbrella.  
Emaar Retail also manages the business operations for The Dubai mall’s leisure and entertainment brands including KidZania®, SEGA Republic®, the Olympic-sized ‘Dubai Ice Rink’ and Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre. Emaar Retail has also entered into a joint-venture with Cathay Organisation in Singapore, to form Reel Entertainment to develop cinemas across the region including the flagship 22-screen Cineplex at The Dubai Mall.
Emaar Retail was established to drive Emaar Malls Group’s developments in key emerging markets across the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Sub-Continent through creating the right retail mix for the various markets.

About Emaar Properties PJSC:
Emaar Properties PJSC is one of the world’s largest property development companies and is rapidly evolving to become a global provider of premier lifestyles. Emaar Properties, which has a strong presence in 36 global markets, has expanded into shopping malls in line with its Vision 2010 to become one of the most valuable companies in the world through a two-pronged approach of geographic expansion and business segmentation. For more information, visit www.emaar.com.


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ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller                
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