Catherine W Gichuki
DOHA
The long-awaited Doha Festival City, the largest entertainment, retail and hospitality destination in Qatar, opened its doors to the public on Wednesday.Thousands of people thronged Doha Festival City,
— managed and operated by Al-Futtaim, to join its soft opening — which was marked by a spectacular display of confetti of different colours, shapes and sizes.
Located in Umm Salal Muhammed, Doha Festival City features the country’s biggest Marks & Spencer, first West Elm, Muji and new flagship stores from H&M and Centerpoint.
Visitors will soon be able to enjoy brands like VOX Cinemas and the world's largest Monoprix Hypermarket.
Doha Festival City Chief Executive Officer Kareem Shamma said the project has a lot of firsts in Qatar market, including IKEA which opened in 2013, the first Harvey Nichols and the first Angry Birds theme park in Qatar.
He said the project will open in phases and it will end up with about 540 units.
"Today, we are opening another phase of the project. There will be more parts of retail that will be coming up, a whole pack of entertainment parks between now and the end of the year. We are opening the project in milestones and phases to keep the place fresh. There will always be something new happening at Doha Festival City."
Shamma added that Doha Festival City will contribute hugely to the tourism industry in Qatar.
"This is because apart from retail, we are bringing a concentration of entertainment which is not seen anywhere else in the Gulf region," he said.
According to him, four distinctive theme parks will be opened at Doha Festival City, including the first snow park and another one dedicated to children's edutainment.
However, the theme parks are not yet operational and will open in phases by the end of the year.
Besides, there are 13 different mountain bike trails and a 350-room international five-star hotel which is directly linked to the shopping mall.
On his part, Doha Festival City General Manager Mall Trevor Hill said,"We currently have a number of new concept and first-to-market stores opened. We are also looking forward to many more over the coming weeks and months, including Harvey Nichols, Mama's & Papa's, All Saints, Hanna Andersson and four unique theme parks.
"The first Angry Birds World globally, indoor snow park Snow Dunes, 'edutainment' park Juniverse and digital experience Virtuocity, will all be open by the end of the summer. We have also opened our purpose-built Outdoor Leisure Trail, a 3-km track designed with fun and fitness in mind free for our customers to enjoy."
DOHA
The long-awaited Doha Festival City, the largest entertainment, retail and hospitality destination in Qatar, opened its doors to the public on Wednesday.Thousands of people thronged Doha Festival City,
— managed and operated by Al-Futtaim, to join its soft opening — which was marked by a spectacular display of confetti of different colours, shapes and sizes.
Located in Umm Salal Muhammed, Doha Festival City features the country’s biggest Marks & Spencer, first West Elm, Muji and new flagship stores from H&M and Centerpoint.
Visitors will soon be able to enjoy brands like VOX Cinemas and the world's largest Monoprix Hypermarket.
Doha Festival City Chief Executive Officer Kareem Shamma said the project has a lot of firsts in Qatar market, including IKEA which opened in 2013, the first Harvey Nichols and the first Angry Birds theme park in Qatar.
He said the project will open in phases and it will end up with about 540 units.
"Today, we are opening another phase of the project. There will be more parts of retail that will be coming up, a whole pack of entertainment parks between now and the end of the year. We are opening the project in milestones and phases to keep the place fresh. There will always be something new happening at Doha Festival City."
Shamma added that Doha Festival City will contribute hugely to the tourism industry in Qatar.
"This is because apart from retail, we are bringing a concentration of entertainment which is not seen anywhere else in the Gulf region," he said.
According to him, four distinctive theme parks will be opened at Doha Festival City, including the first snow park and another one dedicated to children's edutainment.
However, the theme parks are not yet operational and will open in phases by the end of the year.
Besides, there are 13 different mountain bike trails and a 350-room international five-star hotel which is directly linked to the shopping mall.
On his part, Doha Festival City General Manager Mall Trevor Hill said,"We currently have a number of new concept and first-to-market stores opened. We are also looking forward to many more over the coming weeks and months, including Harvey Nichols, Mama's & Papa's, All Saints, Hanna Andersson and four unique theme parks.
"The first Angry Birds World globally, indoor snow park Snow Dunes, 'edutainment' park Juniverse and digital experience Virtuocity, will all be open by the end of the summer. We have also opened our purpose-built Outdoor Leisure Trail, a 3-km track designed with fun and fitness in mind free for our customers to enjoy."