Event Review
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TEA members at IMG Worlds of Adventure. Their lips are sealed on what they saw!
Backstage Discovery in Dubai TEA members go behind-the-scenes of attractions old and new
On a bright but thankfully not too hot morning last
month, a group of members from the Themed
Entertainment Association (TEA) visited both one of the freshest and the longest- running attractions in Dubai – IMG Worlds of Adventure and the Global Village. Jonathan Bonner reports
Global Village
backstage access to existing attractions and occasionally ones that have not yet opened to the public. Our ‘Backstage Discovery’ excursion in Dubai on
E
Wednesday morning, April 20, was hosted by the Europe & Middle East (EME) division under the watch of regional board president Paul Kent from Electrosonic. Most of the 27- strong group, including TEA president Steve Birket and chief operating officer Jennie Nevin, were in town attending the DEAL trade show (April 19-21), where the TEA had a booth and also hosted a mixer event at Ruth’s Chris Steak House on the Dubai Marina. Once badges were handed out and war stories
swapped, we loaded onto a small bus and headed down Sheikh Zayed Road to our first stop, the famous Global Village. Said to be Dubai’s oldest themed attraction, it had just completed a successful 20th season (November to April), recording around 5.3 million visits. We were warmly welcomed by the Global Village team
at the Gate of the World VIP entrance. Our guide, chief operating officer Viviane Paturel-Mazot, gave us some facts about the entrance, the very reasonable AED 15 (US$4.10/€3.60) admission price, as well as the attraction itself before we headed inside. Walking down World Avenue, a Main Street style thoroughfare with themed representations of London, Paris,
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ach of the TEA’s four global divisions organises regular events within its region to facilitate networking and professional development, offering members
Dubai (including a mini Burj Khalifa) and other famous cities from around the world, we were informed that this street is in fact the most photographed place in Dubai! The Global Village itself is a wide-open space surrounded
by 32 themed pavilions representing 75 countries from around the world. Each pavilion is filled with merchandise and food sold mostly by locals from the country in question. To make this possible, up to 10,000 visas are arranged fr
TEA president Steve Birkett (centre) and COO Jennie Nevin with local member David Gray of Oasis Enterprises at the Global Village
MAY 2016
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