Tag Archives: city
All-steel parking facility inaugurated in Abu Dhabi
All-steel parking facility inaugurated in Abu Dhabi Staff Reporter / 20 June 2013 The Department of Transport (DoT) on Wednesday inaugurated the Emirate’s first all-steel parking facility. The facility, which was completed within a record time of three months spans over 8,252 square metres and can accommodate 562 vehicles. The two-level structure is located south of Al Falah Street, east of Bani Yas Street and adjacent to some of the government entities such as the Ministry of Finance, Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council and Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development. “The inauguration of the first Mawaqif steel-structure building in Abu Dhabi is in line with the DoT’s strategy to come up with efficient, integrated and proactive approaches to meet parking needs. Such buildings can be set up in a short span of time, and offer vehicle owners hassle-free solutions to easily reach various destinations, especially in the high traffic areas with greater need for parking bays,” said Mohammed Nasser Al Otaiba, General Manager of Mawaqif at the Department of Transport. The building is also equipped with fire alarms and extinguishers, and users can easily move between storeys through the stairs. “This kind of steel structure building is widely adopted worldwide as one of the most feasible solutions to tackle vehicle parking challenges, offering a wide spectrum of advantages such as low cost, ease and speed of building accomplishment, the ability to accommodate a larger number of vehicles as well as upholding the city’s aesthetic characteristics and landmarks unaffected,” Al Otaiba added. Mawaqif standard fee of Dh2 per hour and Dh15 for full day will be applicable in the building. Parking is free on Fridays as well as official holidays. “Drivers should abide by parking rules and regulations to avoid fines,” the official advised. news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
What can we expect from Dubai Sports World?
There are just a few days to go until the largest indoor sporting event in the Middle East gets started in the UAE.Dubai Sports World (DSW) is due to begin on June 21st and organisers of the event have announced details of the organisations that are expected to take part.According to bosses at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), a plethora of sporting groups will provide engaging activities such as fitness programmes, team sports and BMX parks.Tennis 360, Duplays, Active Sports, Original Fitness, IFA Sport, Rage Skate Park, Ping Pong Dubai, Football Centre, Dubai Badminton School, Adventure HQ, Ride Bike Shop and G Force Cricket have all confirmed their attendance at the event thus far.The Dubai government is hoping to see more UAE residents participating in physical activity and is also keen for tourists to get involved.Senior vice president of venues at DWTC Ahmed Alkhaja said: “In order to ensure DSW caters to individuals of all ages, interests and sporting ability, we have once again partnered with organisations that bring people together in a dynamic, active and friendly environment, led by some of the best trainers in the city.”Alex Medvedev from Rage Skate Park suggested there is a strong skating community in Dubai and he is proud to take part in DSW, AMEinfo reports.”Our competitions are meant to be celebrations of the sport, which is as physical as it is creative,” he was quoted as saying.Dubai has not always been renowned as a sporting hub, but a lot of work has gone into altering the city's image.In fact, footballing legend Diego Maradona – who has been working as an ambassador for the Dubai Sports Council – recently described the emirate as the “Disneyland of sport”.He told Gulf News said there is no place in the world that is better at hosting sporting events. Coming from one of the finest footballers to ever walk the planet, this is high praise indeed. Continue reading
Why Dubai’s Hotel Classification Scheme is so important
A senior figure at Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has explained why a new Hotel Classification Scheme could be so important to the city's hospitality sector.Majid Al Marri told Hoteliermiddleeast.com the system will give people a better idea about the quality of resorts across the region.Dubai is renowned for its multitude of glamorous hotels and it seems that more investors are now pouring money into the emirate's hospitality sector.Like many other parts of the world, Dubai was badly affected by the economic downturn and some developers were forced to shelve plans to build new hotels in the sheikhdom.However, many of these projects have been resurrected in the last 12 months and there are some impressive structures starting to emerge in popular areas like Dubai Marina and the Palm Jumeirah. Mr Al Marri said the Hotel Classification Scheme introduces new categories for university campuses and hostels, while also providing a new buffer between standard and luxury accommodation.”We found there was a gap in this area, which is why there is also a new category for serviced apartments,” he was quoted as saying.The law was first introduced in 1998 and this latest update is aimed at increasing transparency across the sector, thus allowing visitors to see which resorts offer the best facilities.Mr Al Marri said there are 18 new “designators” – including optional extras like rooms with a sea view or spa and wellness services – which hotels can add to their rating.This, he added, will help hotels to market themselves and will ultimately aid the DTCM in its quest to attract 20 million tourists to the city annually by 2020.It is certainly a good time for investors to add Dubai-based hotels, apartments and villas to their property portfolios, as the demand for accommodation in the emirate has soared in recent months.In fact, Mastercard recently hailed Dubai as a “city to watch” in the coming years, with more and more people expected to take a holiday in the city in the near future. Continue reading