Behind the Scenes at Dubai Summer Surprises

Retail, raffles and entertainment: a look behind the curtain of Dubai’s summer extravaganza

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 14 July 2023: After a quarter of a century of seasonal shopping bargains, headline musical acts and entertainment, restaurant and hotel mega deals and hundreds of millions of dirhams in prizes, this year’s 26th edition of Dubai Summer Surprises is fully loaded and ready to explode into life to bring 10 weeks of entertainment and retail deals to the city.

It was back in 1998 that the first Dubai Summer Surprises was launched as an innovative way to attract tourists and boost business during the summer months – since then the challenge has always been to rise to growing consumer expectations.

Suhaila Saqer Obaid Ghubash, Executive Director, Festival & Events at Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, has been with DSS for 23 years – beginning as a volunteer then being asked to stay as a full-time member of staff.

Each year, she said, months go into the planning of the event, to make sure the festival is bigger, better and fresher than ever before. Just a few months after the close of one festival, organisers get to work on the next year’s offering, deconstructing the feedback from partners and making sure the festival is enjoyed by everyone from children to families, from Gen Zs to tourists, from visitors to residents.

This involves making sure the entertainment offerings have something for all age-groups, that new acts and shows are put on throughout the two-and-a-half-month festival. This involves retaining much-loved elements of the show – including the iconic Modesh – and staging roadshows across the GCC ahead of DSS to generate buzz and entertainment in the final weeks before the opening weekend.

Ghubash mirrors the growth of DSS to the overall growth of Dubai. “Dubai as a destination has contributed immensely to the growth of content in the festival. That’s why we hope DSS will continue to grow for another 25 years, and support the future success of Dubai’s economy, and contribute to government objectives including the D33 Agenda.”

Delivering a festival of this size and scale involves months of planning and negotiations with all involved to offer the best possible experience for anyone hoping to visit Dubai during the festival, and residents who are eager to take advantage of the incredible deals, dining and entertainment on offer.

It really is the perfect opportunity to put Dubai’s thriving retail sector in the spotlight, in more ways than one. Sitting at the helm of retail organisers is Mohammed Feras Arayqat, Director Retail Registration, Retail & Strategic Alliances at Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), who has helped shape this aspect of Dubai Summer Surprises and is now glad months of planning are almost finally over.

“We present the potential collaboration opportunities and encourage retailers to take part in our signature promotions,” Arayqat said. “We also try to actively brainstorm with groups and brands and work with them to develop their own promotions, which in turn enhances the festival promotional calendar of content.”

Each year, DSS works with more than 35 malls and hundreds of retail brands across the emirate to ensure they each offer something diverse to the millions of residents and tourists that shop across Dubai each year. “We have the daily DSS surprises where we collaborate with the different brands on a daily basis and also the DSS Lucky Receipt,” said Arayqat.  This special promotion sees 10 prizes won each day for 10 days from 10 different stores and is forged on an established collaboration with multiple brands to reward shoppers on a daily basis. “We have the final weekend, where we work with hundreds of brands across the city and offer discounts up to 90 percent off,” he added. “We also have something called retail spikes, or shopping spikes over each weekend.”

As the festival has grown, so have the promotions. Previous shopping promotions which have gone down a storm have been the 12 Hour Flash Sales where shoppers have benefited from up to 90% discounts at select Majid Al Futtaim Malls with DSS.  The promotion also saw shoppers get the chance to become an instant Share millionaire.

“That was a big promotion which received a lot of great feedback,” Arayqat told us. “We want to ensure that consumers always have something new to look forward to each week of the festival, so we regularly add new promotional concepts so that people have a reason to keep on shopping.”

It’s a priority for festival organisers DFRE to stay ahead of the curve and up to date with industry trends. “We always have to stay tuned to both industry and consumer preferences as we are constantly adapting to deliver festivals that meet our objectives to support the retail industry in the position of Dubai as one of the top places to shop,” said Arayqat. 

Feedback – and seeing which retail promotions have done well – is a big part of what makes DSS bigger and better each year. “After each collaboration or partnership promotion we do a feedback survey. To tell us the spending increase, the satisfaction of the retailer, the footfall of shoppers and the satisfaction of the consumer themselves. So, year-on-year we have been seeing an increase in spend, an increase in footfall,” Arayqat said.

“This is the 26th edition of Dubai Summer Surprises. We always challenge ourselves to come up with something new and exciting. The main thing is the engagement and the excitement of the retailers – this is what makes the festival memorable. These unique promotions elevate Dubai as one of the best cities to live in or visit and shop.”

It is the attention to detail as well as the variety of options for shoppers that have made Dubai Summer Surprises one of the most popular in the city’s packed events calendar.  Another one of DFRE’s key team making sure a festival of this magnitude happens without a hitch is Abdalla H. Al Ameeri, Director, Raffles and Retail Promotions, Retail & Strategic Alliances, who is one of just a handful of original team members still working on the annual summer extravaganza.

Al Ameeri, who has been in post since the event’s conception, said there is great pride in seeing the event grow year on year into the retail behemoth it has become. He recalls conversations in 1997, with the Dubai government brainstorming for a summer-long event that would provide residents and visitors entertainment and shopping incentives during the hot spell.

“We needed something for the summer,” he said. “By 1998 the first DSS was launched.” At that time, he recalled, all the government departments in Dubai pitched in, handling different weeks of the summer-long festival.

When it came to planning DSS, Al Ameeri said raffles and prize draws were always going to be a central festival component. “Raffles and prizes are always a huge part of any major event in Dubai,” he said. “And so, we knew this had to be the case with DSS.”

The first ever DSS saw mobile phones and cash prizes given away. And over the years, the raffle element of DSS has only grown. From gold to millions of dirhams in cash prizes, cars and even apartments – the prizes over the past 25 years have collectively topped “hundreds of millions of dirhams,” said Al Ameeri.

The car giveaway has become one of the most popular elements of DSS, with vehicles won also being cash redeemable – meaning winners can swap the keys for cash if they prefer. The raffles work multiple ways, and through long-standing partnerships with business across Dubai – from petrol station groups like ENOC, to dozens of malls across the emirate, to gold and diamond retailers.

Every time a shopper makes a purchase over a certain amount, they are entered into multiple DSS draws. “I would say – if you are not in a hurry to make a purchase – wait until DSS,” he said. “The potential is huge.”

As DSS has evolved, so has the raffle element. Online shoppers are also now entered into draws, as DSS accommodated more people purchasing away from traditional bricks and mortar malls. As it has grown, more than Dh20 million is now given away each DSS.

Over the past 25 years, Al Ameeri has seen the excitement and happiness of thousands of shoppers who have walked away with cash, gold, cars and other prizes – both residents in Dubai and visitors holidaying in the emirates who fly back home with an unexpected bonus of “fabulous prizes” in their back pocket.

He said the “evident happiness” of prize winners are testament of the success of DSS. If Al Ameeri had any words about this DSS, he urges every resident and visitor to “try their luck”.

“My experience is anyone – everyone – must try their luck in person or online. Take the time to enter your details and get a ticket. Take the ticket, take the chance and you might be a winner.”

Enjoy the ultimate summer extravaganza filled with incredible surprises, unmissable retail offers, diverse culinary delights and endless entertainment this Dubai Summer Surprises, running until 3 September. For more information, visit @CelebrateDubai and @StyledByDubai on social media channels, and www.DubaiSummerSurprises.com.

Dubai Summer Surprises is supported by key sponsor RAKBANK MasterCard and Strategic partners which include: Al Futtaim Malls (Dubai Festival City Mall & Festival Plaza), Al Seef, Al Zarooni Group (Mercato Shopping Mall), AW Rostamani Group, Bluewaters, Citywalk, Emirates Airline, Enoc, Etisalat, Majid Al Futtaim (Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Mirdif, City Centre Deira), Nakheel Malls (Ibn Battuta Mall, Nakheel Mall, Dragon Mart 2, Palm West Beach and The View), The Beach and The Outlet Village.

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About Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment

Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), is responsible for developing Dubai’s retail and festival sectors and supporting the positioning of Dubai as a world-class tourism destination with year-round family entertainment, shopping and events.