New Tourist Attractions and Shopping Destinations Enhance DSF 2016 Experience

• Butterfly garden year-round exhibition of natural species
• Dubai Garden Glow first garden for education and entertainment, enters Guinness World Records
• BOXPARK offers a fun outdoor shopping and dining experience
• City Centre Me'aisem serves new areas around International Media Production Zone
• Hotel Palazzo Versace and Al Habtoor City offer additional options of luxurious stays for tourists
• Expansions of Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Festival City Mall give shoppers more choices.

Local residents and visitors in Dubai during the current edition of Dubai Shopping Festival can also enjoy exceptional experiences at the various tourist attractions and shopping destinations that have opened recently, on top of the amazing shopping, winnings and entertainment offerings at the 32-day citywide extravaganza

IIn addition to a line-up of over 150 events and activities assembled by DSF organizers, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM)  – visitors have a wide choice of new tourist and shopping destination to choose from that would make their stay in Dubai even more memorable.

Dubai Butterfly Garden

Dubai’s latest unique attraction is the Dubai Butterfly Garden – bringing an exhibition of over 15,000 butterflies from all over the world to one location. The colourful garden includes over 120 types of flowers and plants which provide the perfect homes to over 150 unique butterflies, as certified by the Ministry of Environment and Water. The Dubai Butterfly Garden is thought to be one of the largest covered gardens around – at 2,600 square metres – and is fully equipped with temepature controls to keep the enclosure at a crisp 24 degrees all year round. The garden, which is located in Dubailand, near to the Miracle Garden, also hosts a café, giftshop, and a museum that displays butterflies and insects from around the world.

Dubai Garden Glow

Dubai Municipality’s ‘Garden Glow’ is another recently opened exhibition which is used for both education and entertainment. The ‘Art by Day; Glow by Night’ experience showcases wonders of the world to visitors, and during the night the art pieces – worth an estimated AED 30 million - begin to glow in the dark, lighting up their surroundings with surreal colours. ‘Garden Glow’ was created to help teach children about the power of sustainable energy, as well as provide a unique space for family entertainment – which is why you will find acrobats from across the world, fine foods, and so much more for the whole fsmily. Other unique concepts at the garden include ‘The Porcelain Grand Sheikh Zayed Mosque’ made up of 90,000 porcelain cups, plates and spoons and The Burj Khalifa, which has been recreated with 330,000 small medicine bottles filled with coloured water and stands over 12 meters (36’) tall. The garden hopes to enter the Guinness World Records Book with these two installments.

Other highlights include light show that will offer an unmatched artistic masterpiece, the talking tree, Panda’s paradise, Dinosaur camp, and candy land

City  Centre Me'aisem

This new mall was opened by Majid Al Futtain Group, a Strategic Partner of DFRE, in September, making it their 6^thshopping mall in the country and their 12^th in the region. City Centre Me’aisem is 325 thousand square metres and is located in the International Media Production Zone at the intersection of Al Khail Rd and Mohamed Bin Zayed Rd. 53 retail stores can be found in the mall, with an expected 15,000 visitors a day. The mall is thought to be the perfect shopping and entertainment destination for the growing neighbourhood communities in the area. The first phase includes a Carrefour Hypermarket, a ‘Magic Planet,’ and a medical clinic to meet the needs of residents and workers in the area.

Hotel Palazzo Versace

Located just minutes away from Dubai’s airport and the iconic Burj Khalifa, the recently opened Hotel Palazzo Versace has 215 hotel rooms and 169 residential units. The unique building is characterized by creative designs, a high level of hospitality and excellent service. Decorated with beautiful furnishings from Versace’s home collection, as well as having a ceiling decorated with handmade gold-inlaid embellishments, chandeliers, marble, and mosaics; making this an incredibly decadent and luxurious hotel.

Al Habtoor City

As one of the largest tourism projects in the world, Al Habtoor City will house three 5-star hotels in its 8.5 millions square feet compound – including three luxurious residential towers and 1460 units. The hotels will be St. Regis Dubai, W Dubai and Westin Dubai, with the city set to become a holistic tourist city – the first of its kind in the world. St. Regis has recently started welcoming guests while the other hotels are preparing to open in the near future. Residential Towers are nearing completion with the final phase set to be finished in 2017. Habtoor City also includes shops, restaurants on either side of its ‘Boulevard’ and waterfront, not to mention a total of 30 restaurants and cafes inside the hotels. This will also include a covered and air-conditioned court, classic French garden, the region’s first-ever permanent water-themed theatrical production by Franco Dragone Entertainment Group.

BOXPARK

Launched by Dubai's Meraas Holding, a Strategic Partner of DFRE, BOXPARK is a destination inspired by modern concepts and lifestyles that utilize new architectural designs to put an aesthetic spin on storage containers. The location includes 44 stores, restaurants, cafes, and entertainment brands, thus meeting the aspirations of Dubai citizens and expats. It is the third destination launched by Meraas Holding in less than 2 years - after THE BEACH – opposite JBR and CITY WALK – and is located on Safa Street. Exceptional experiences are offered to those seeking an urban lifestyle, as well as giving tourists and residents alike the new option of an outdoor shopping experience.

Mall of the Emirates Expansion

Majid Al Futtaim Group announced the completion of the expansion and development of Mall of the Emirates at a cost of AED1 billion over an area of 36,000 square meters. The expansion has brought new and global leading brands to the UAE for the first time, as well as providing the mall with an additional 1,300 parking spots. There is also a new VOX Cinema that spans 100,000 square feet and hosts the first IMAX laser screen and largest 4DX theatre in the Middle East.

Dubai Festival City Mall

Dubai Festival City Mall’s new ‘Festival Square’ has opened its doors to mall visitors in the first steps towards transforming the mall into a prominent destination for fantasticshopping, entertainment and recreation, not to mention going world-class restaurants and cafes. The new expansion project will add 269 thousand square feet of space for retail rent - reaching a total of 2.47M sqft that includes 60 new stores. The fast food court will also be expanded and will be opened gradually starting October 2016.

The 21^st edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival runs until 1 February under the tagline ‘Unwrap The Exceptional’.