Dubai's Global Village expands retail space

Global Village, Dubai's family entertainment and cultural attraction, has announced that it is adding 200,000 sq ft of retail space prior to opening for its new season.

New kiosks, restaurants and entertainment venues will be added to the facilities while construction is underway for an open air theatre, a statement said.

Saeed Ali Bin Redha, Global Village CEO, said: "We are working hard to welcome a season full of activities. We are working on the final touches before the opening, and overseeing the work being done on the new additions for this year.

"The growth we've been witnessing has spurred an increase in demand for commercial space, and we are trying to meet this demand by adding 200,000 square feet of retail space, including kiosks, restaurants and entertainment venues."

Global Village and its attractions will be open from October 21 and run until March 30, 2013.

He added that a new bridge has been built to improve access for visitors and high definition CCTV cameras have also been added to improve security.

During an inspection tour of the Global Village site, Bin Redha expressed his satisfaction with what has been accomplished to date, saying that work on 160 new kiosks have been completed while other projects are 90 percent finished.

New additions include Austria, Brazil, Greece, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa plus displays showcasing a number of countries from Eastern Europe.

It takes to 37 the number of pavilions in Global Village with more than 65 countries now represented from every continent.

Statistics published on the Global Village website show that it attracted 4.5 million visitors in 2010, the most recent figures available.