Rolling out the red carpet

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Coldplay, Mercury Rev, Andrea Bocelli, Justin Timberlake, Bon Jovi, the Middle East International Film Festival, Chicago, Carmen… combine the scale and quality of these productions and its easy to see why Emirates Palace took out this year’s Sound & Stage Venue of the Year award.

The world’s most expensive hotel has forged an impressive reputation as the preeminent live events venue in the GCC region.

While detractors argue the toss about auditorium load-in factors and rigging issues, no one can deny the fact that no other GCC venue has successfully hosted so many large-scale events nor achieved such widespread international exposure in the process.

This year’s S&S award, which marks Emirates Palace’s second consecutive honour in the category, recognises the efforts made by the hotel’s small but hard-working team of technicians and marketers who saw potential in leveraging the hotel’s extensive outdoor areas to stage major events within its grounds. 

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“From the outset, we set some ambitious goals for ourselves,” says Hazem Harfoush, Emirates Palace's assistant director of sales and marketing. “The success of the outdoor site, which has hosted a number of major concerts, speaks for itself. Coldplay’s concert attracted more than 15,000 guests, even despite the terrible weather conditions.

“We have the capacity to grow this number, and we’re confident we’ll do so given the number of events we’re looking to host over the next 12 months.”

The venue’s success has also played a fundamental role in shifting the focus from Dubai to Abu Dhabi as THE top destination for international touring artists keen to perform in the UAE. 

“We work very closely with the Abu Dhabi government and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority to showcase the hotel’s facilities and our role in promoting the emirate as a world class destination,” says Harfoush.

With the summer months forcing the UAE live events industry into hibernation, Harfoush says Emirates Palace is making plans for the 2009/10 events season, the highlight of which is set to be a carnival of events staged within the hotel’s grounds as part of the inaugural Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix.

“The F1 Grand Prix is set to be the highlight of the Abu Dhabi events calendar,” he says. “Emirates Palace will play a major role as an official entertainment venue for the event.”