OPINION: Those Who Say Events In The UAE Aren’t Run Well Are Mistaken
With a bustling rota of international events, the UAE calendar is choc-full of high profile sporting, music and recreational events.
It has become one of the top choices for large-scale events, and for good reason.
Last weekend saw the DP World Tour, the prestigious European Tour – at Jumeirah Golf Estates, this weekend just gone, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and the coming weekend – the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, to name just a few.
The UAE has become – and built itself on being – an events destination
With plenty of hospitality, arenas, the best facilities in the world, it is constantly evolving to improve the events space.
And it does it bloody well, 90% of the time.
Sure there have been a few hiccups
The fateful Guns ‘N Roses gig as the first big event at the 117 Live arena, this weekend’s debacle at du Arena during The Weeknd’s gig, the 2017 RedFest DXB weather issues and the like.
But for those isolated incidents, there have been plenty of spectacularly organised events.
Look at the DP World this month, record-breaking attendance figures, at a high-profile golf estate, with tens of thousands coming to enjoy – and all for free. It has been hosted in Dubai for 10 years, and it wouldn’t keep returning if the city wasn’t right.
Look at the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens. We’ve spoken before about how well-organised the event is. Despite it being in a rather remote location, there are plenty of shuttle buses, there is loads of entertainment provided after the games to reduce the bottle-neck of patrons leaving, and the facilities are well-laid out, readily available amenities and clearly signed taxis, toilets and the like.
Formula 1 attracts tens of thousands of people every year, and puts on four concerts in four days. These events are on a huge scale, and are executed with minimal dramas.
Many destinations aren’t able to cope with this level of event
It’s lucky both Dubai and Abu Dhabi have the hotels, the airports, the infrastructure and the leaders willing to invest, in events of this size. Many places wouldn’t be able to cope with half of what we can.
A quick trip through a busy international airport is case in point – Dubai’s airport can move hundreds of thousands of people per day, whereas we have all experienced visiting a less efficient or capable hub that can’t quite move passengers through quickly.
We are lucky to live in place, where there are myriad events to attend
With fantastic gigs, not to mention the fanfare that comes with each event. There’s no level of extra quite like that of the UAE.
Just watching the Fursan Al Emarat air shows this weekend – whirling overhead at the Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi, enjoying the gorgeous weather and Abu Dhabi’s typically mesmerising sunsets – it makes you realise how blessed we are to live here, and have all these fantastic events in the calendar.
So regardless of a hiccup in the organisation of one event, one time, we have to remember how many amazing events are run well, how efficient the UAE is at hosting and how friggin fantastic it is that we get all these events.
