Despite the global recession, visitor expectations and targeted expenditure at the month-long annual Dubai Shopping Festival 2009 is still pegged at the levels of 2008, when around 3.2 million people visited the emirate and spent about Dh10 billion, according to a top DSF executive. The festival will commence in Dubai on January 15 and run until February 15. "In the shadows of the global economic slowdown, DSF Office will aim at maintaining the momentum of last year's figures," Laila Suhail, Chief Executive Officer of DSF, told Emirates Business.

Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), known in Arabic as 'Layali Dubai', was first started in February 1996 by the Dubai government as purely a retail event aimed to promote trade in Dubai. Since then it has become an annual shopping, entertainment, and cultural extravaganza that continues to promote tourism in Dubai and draws people from around the world each year.

On February 15, 1996, the travel industry in the Middle East heralded the beginning of a new dawn - the birth of the most impressive shopping cum entertainment mega event. An entirely new concept, it succeeded brilliantly in showcasing what co-operation between private sector and public sector could do to create a mind-boggling achievement.

Dubai Shopping Festival is basically a shopping paradise. Dubai is know around the world as such a paradise throughout the year, but they really lay out the red carpet during shopping festival month, with over 2,300 retails outlets participating, that offer everything imaginable from gold, perfume, haute couture, cars, electronics to handicrafts and textiles.

Dubai has more than 40 shopping malls, including the largest outside of North America, the Mall of the Emirates. Dubai is also known as the "City of Gold," and for good reason. Its world famous gold souks have a mind boggling array of jewelry, and other traditional Arabic souks sell the best in rich textiles, exotic spices, Arabic pottery and wooden furniture. Major shopping malls offer additional discounts and promotions during the shopping festival and include the Wafi Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Deira City Center, Bur Juman, IBN Battuta Mall and the newly opened huge Dubai Mall, situated near the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Dubai.

The venues include shopping centres and malls in various parts of the city and there is also a Global Village with pavilions offering products from retailers and manufacturers from around the world. So let's plan your next trip to Dubai coinciding with this mega event.

As months of preparations went into creating Dubai Shopping Festival, the shopping festival matured into a major retailing cum entertainment extravaganza. The rest is history.

Besides the shopping malls and souks, one of the most popular shopping spots is the Carpet Oasis, showcasing thousands of exclusive carpets from around the world. Other events include nightly fireworks, laser/light shows, international fashion shows, street performances, music concerts and many cultural events. Daily raffle draws offer very attractive prizes of money, gold, cars and 4x4s.

Every year, Dubai Shopping Festival lives up to its promise of staging the most exciting activities for the whole family inspired by the theme One World, One Family, One Festival. As universal brotherhood, happiness, excitement, joy and adventure became the signature trademarks of Dubai Shopping Festival, the Festival itself became a tribute to the inherent ambition and strength of the people of the United Arab Emirates. Local and multinational brands acknowledged their faith in the event, and brands like Visa, Pepsi and Emirates Airlines became partners to DSF's growth.

Most hotels and appartments also get involved offering special offers during the period, even the world famous Burj Al Arab is included in the hotels. With all these special discounts available many would feel that would suffice, but Dubai goes quite a few steps further. They are scores of raffles that offer very attractive prices outlined below, and Emirates and most other airlines flying out of Dubai offer discounted airfares and much needed excess baggage allowances during the festival.

There are other events as well, including international fashion shows, children's events, streetside performances, nightly fireworks, film festivals, and many other cultural events that reflect the emirate's cosmopolitan character. Plus one of the biggest events of them all, the Dubai World Cup also takes place during the festival, and with a staggering US$ 12 million purse that makes it the richest horse race in the world - not something to miss.

The next DSF will witness fresh creative inputs and innovative promotions that will go a long way in attracting more visitors to the Emirate.