Dubai: Laila Suhail, chief strategy officer (CSO) of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), has been appointed the new chief executive as of on Monday.
Suhail, who replaced Saeed Al Nabouda, will be the fourth chief executive of the DSF and the first female CEO.
In an administrative reshuffle, the Dubai Executive Council that is in charge of the emirate's civil administration, has also appointed Ebrahim Saleh as the event's general coordinator.
A long-time DSF director in charge of promoting the hugely successful event, she has played an instrumental role in engaging the sponsors and marketing it successfully both within the region and overseas.
"I am very happy with the new assignment. It's a challenge for me and in the coming months I will bring in new ideas and concepts to add value to the DSF," she told Gulf News on Monday.
"One of the biggest challenges will be to revamp the DSF and DSS formats and make them more attractive," she said.
Suhail was awarded the Government Excellence Award by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for gathering high sponsorship amount in DSF 2001.
She is also accredited with acceding highest targeted sponsorship revenues in 2005 and in catapulting the DSF/DSS brands to a higher level.
This dynamic DSF director is involved in the day-to-day managing, planning and execution of the DSF office activities especially troubleshooting during the mammoth events while also ensuring effective communication with sponsors/private sector during DSF and DSS.
As CSO she manages the marketing, communication, corporate alliance and the Media and PR Departments with 14 full-time employees.
The Dubai government launched the DSF in 1996 to attract shoppers and to boost its retail and tourism sectors that instantly became a huge success to such an extent that Dubai's residents started complaining of the citywide traffic jams during the events.
As part of the plan, the DSF had shifted the Global Village three places before moving it in Dubailand.
With an excellent academic record and accredited professional training and her over 12 years association with the annual shopping and summer events, Laila Suhail has initiated projects and events ideas throughout the years for both DSF and DSS and achieved the set targets in turning them into major destinations besides spearheading the Modhesh brand.
