• Citywide shopping experience will give shoppers discounts for 24-hours of up to 90% across seven malls to mark the first day of Eid
• Abu Dhabi Summer Season to take place from June 21- August 18, 
• ADSS offers unique line-up of promotions across malls, attractions and hotels as well as entertainment for all the family  

Abu Dhabi, UAE – 5 June 2018:  The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has announced details of both the upcoming Eid Fest celebrations and the annual Abu Dhabi Summer Season; two marquee events for the emirate which aim to attract more overseas visitors to the UAE capital and to thrill and delight all-comers. Both events have been geared to provide both visitors and residents, especially families and bargain hunters, with something to get excited about, with sought-after experiences and fantastic promotional deals for all – making Abu Dhabi the place to be this summer.       

The celebrations get off to a spectacular start with a 24-hour mall mega sale, featuring discounts of up to 90%, as part of Eid Fest celebrations. With more than 500 stores involved, the sale will kick off at 10am on Friday, June 15th and run until 10am on Saturday, June 16th in a bid to bring families and friends to Abu Dhabi to celebrate this special occasion. Inspired by the runaway success of last year’s Mega Sale at Yas Mall, a total of seven malls will be participating in this year’s super sale; World Trade Centre (WTC) Mall, Al Jimi Mall, Dalma Mall, Hili Mall, Marina Mall and Bawadi Mall, with Yas Mall yet again participating. In addition, Abu Dhabi will be marking the first day of Eid Al Fitr with a dazzling five-minute fireworks display that will light up the sky on Friday, June 15th at 9pm at Abu Dhabi corniche and Hazza bin Zayed stadium in Al Ain.

Aimed at cementing the Emirate’s status as a year-round tourism destination, the mega sale will be followed by the much-anticipated Abu Dhabi Summer Season (ADSS) returning in its fifth edition between June 21st and August 18th. This year’s ADSS will present a city-wide array of experiences that are not to be missed. Visitors and residents will be able to enjoy a huge range of activities and offers across the entire emirate, including hotel deals, F&B and retail promotions as well as a number of entertaining events for all the family. For these events, DCT has partnered with some of the well renowned entertainment and events companies in the region including MBC Group, Yak Events, Xceed Events, and Envie Events, who will together bring top quality performances and acts, kids’ shows, live family entertainment, renowned international shows, and Indian performers and concerts. The exciting summer event is designed to offer memorable moments for families, residents and visitors of all ages with unmatched entertainment activities as well as enticing summer deals at many hotels, attractions and F&B outlets as well as lots more shopping promotions at more than 10 participating malls.

HE Sultan Al Mutawa Al Dhaheri, Executive Director of the Tourism Sector at DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “The Eid Fest celebrations and Abu Dhabi Summer Season are annual anchor activations that aim to underpin the Emirate’s credentials as a destination of distinction during the summer, especially for families looking for unmissable experiences and offers. It forms part of our long-term strategy to incentivise the private sector and tourism industry and get them involved in event development while building both regional and international awareness of the emirate's appeal. Through this summer season, we aim to contribute to the increase of overseas visitors to Abu Dhabi, especially from top source markets including GCC and India, raise the average length-of-stay for visitors, and position Abu Dhabi as an attractive destination to visit during the summer.”

ADSS 2018 will also include unmatched hotel promotions for the duration of the festival, with spa, F&B, rooms and kids offers throughout the summer season. More than 50 of the emirate’s most luxurious hotels will be offering a total of 67 deals, with discounts ranging from 15% to 50%. Participating hotels include Shangri-La Hotel and Traders Hotel at Qaryat Al Beri, Yas Island’s Rotana, Radisson Blu, Park Inn and Centro, Bab Al Qasr, Al Seef Resort and Spa, Jannah Burj Al Sarab, Park and Beach Rotanas, Capital Centre Arjaan by Rotana, Centro Capital Centre, Dusit Thani, Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan by Rotana, Pearl Rotana Capital Centre, Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas and the Marriott Downtown Abu Dhabi. The Hili Rayhaan by Rotana, Al Raha Beach Hotel, City Seasons Al Hamra Hotel, Danat Al Ain Resort, Hyatt Capital Gate, Mafraq Hotel, Novel Hotel City Center, Novotel Abu Dhabi Al Bustan, Oryx hotel, Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas, Royal Rose Hotel, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi Hotel, Al Diar Capital Hotel, InterContinental Abu Dhabi, Corniche Hotel Abu Dhabi, Western Hotel Madinat Zayed, Western Hotel Ghayathi Abu Dhabi, Tilal Liwa Hotel and the Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan by Rotana are also offering ADSS promotions during the festival.

Foodies will also get some fantastic deals this summer, with unbeatable savings at their favourite restaurants – dine-in and online. DCT Abu Dhabi is partnering with Zomato to launch the ADSS Zomato Experience, presenting four F&B summer offers at more than 200 participating restaurants. Zomato Gold Membership offered two packages for both tourists and residents to enjoy mouthwatering meals while saving up to 25% on their orders at more than 200 restaurants, and a special one-month subscription for overseas tourists visiting Abu Dhabi during ADSS as a traveller package. Throughout the summer season, restaurants across the city will be serving up a Zomato-branded AED15 kids menu for kids from the age of 13 and below specially curated for ADSS. Additionally, children from the age of 13 and below can have a free dessert when visiting any of the dining outlets participating in ADSS and free food items on specific days. Culinary Weeks will feature a series of themed “culinary weeks” each week with 25 restaurants where the public will be able to take advantage of discounts when dining out.

Abu Dhabi Summer Season 2018 will also feature two offers specifically for the entertainment hub of Yas Island. A ‘Family Summer Season Offer’ will be available to purchase, giving families the opportunity to enjoy a special deal for a stay at a Yas Island hotel coupled with complimentary breakfast and entry to the theme park of their choice. The offer, which covers two adults and one child, also includes access to Yas Beach.  

In addition to the ‘Family Summer Season Offer’, the soon-to-open Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is also joining in the ADSS fun, with a ‘Family & Friends’ offer. The eagerly anticipated theme park, which opens on July 25th, is offering free entry for the one family member if a four-person Family & Friends ticket is purchased. So families will only pay for three tickets for four people to enjoy all the rides and attractions in the park! 

ADSS 2018 will also include a unique shop & win promotion from June 29 – August 18, “Unbox the Amazing” at more than 10 participating malls across the emirate. Created especially for this year’s season, DCT Abu Dhabi will bring a ‘game show’ event to participating malls to give participants the opportunity to “unbox the amazing” and win exciting prizes, both digitally and in person, when they spend more than AED 250. Throughout the summer season, visitors and residents can also benefit from discounts of up to 80%.

The show will be having a variety of entertainment activations for customers, along with musical and performing acts giving away on-the-spot prizes. A stage along with interactive games, a game show host and a spin the wheel competition will be on show and travelling to each participating mall only during weekends that allows winners the chance to ‘unbox the amazing’ via a wall of boxes when a minimum of 1,000AED is spent. 

The promotion will also be available online, with the chance to win clothing, accessories, gift vouchers, luxury gifts and even cars - it’s a shop & win campaign unlike any other. Shoppers who spends over 250AED the opportunity to ‘unbox the amazing’ online, and also enter the grand prize giveaway to win a car though validating their bill at the mall kiosk, at which point they will be given instructions on how to enter the competition online with a chance to win either F&B vouchers or an instant prize. Once they have entered the online platform, they are then free to redeem their prize, or try again. Entries are only limited to the amount of multiples of 250AED that the customer has purchased, thus if they spend AED500 they get 2 entries, AED750 3 entries, and so on. While learning how to enter at the mall info desk, all customers who spend multiples of 250AED will also be given coupons to enter the grand prize raffle draw to win a car.

The summer season will also feature awesome events to entertain family members of all ages, bringing the most popular and favourite characters from renowned shows namely: Al Beit Beit Aboona (June 22-23) and Nickelodeon Experience (July 5-15) presented by MBC Group, Around the World (July 5 – August 14) by Bawadi Mall, Pinkfong and Baby Shark (June 15-16, and 28-30) by Xceed Events, Unite with Tomorrowland (July 28) by Envie Events, and Sparkles of India (August 16-18) by Yak Events.

And to make things even more fun for ADSS fans, DCT Abu Dhabi is joining forces with Rayna Tours to launch the first-ever ‘Abu Dhabi Summer Season Pass’ powered by Rayna Tours, the official Abu Dhabi Summer experience pass. This pre-paid pass that allow pass holders to unlock great deals, will feature special promotions at 16 attractions and city tours. Visitors can choose between various packages and make savings on their purchases of up to 50% across Abu Dhabi and the Al Ain region. Valid from 21 June to 18 August, the pass consists of three tiered packages with prices ranging between AED 400 to 700, and savings from 25% to 50%.