Lara Hamad to represent Jordan in DSS Apprenticeship Programme 2011

With the biggest summer event in the region set to take off in less than a week, the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE), an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) and organisers of Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS), announced the winners of the DSS Apprenticeship Programme 2011.

The hotly contested programme, which targets students from across the Middle East and North Africa, is a unique internship opportunity which brings together the best and brightest Arab youth to experience working on the regions biggest summer tourism extravaganza. Participating countries this year include the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, KSA, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and, for the first time, Palestine.

Lara Nidal Hamad, a student at the University of Jordan was chosen by a jury comprising of key DSS representatives to represent Jordan in the 6th edition of the highly coveted DSS Apprenticeship Programme.

Laila Suhail, CEO of Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE) said: “There’s always that one essay that stands out amongst the rest, and from Jordan this year it was definitely Lara’s. Her essay played on our imagination and really gave life to her innovative ideas. She is definitely an excellent addition to this year’s DSS Apprenticeship Programme.”

The DSS Apprenticeship Programme has grown tremendously since its inception in 2006 when the programme included four participating universities from two countries. This year, 55 universities from across 11 markets in the Middle East and North Africa were invited to nominate candidates to undergo a highly competitive selection process to earn one of the coveted slots in the 2011 Programme.

The selection process began with universities and colleges nominating six of their brightest senior students whose credentials are reviewed, along with the contents of an essay the students are asked to submit. In this year’s essay, students were requested to share their ideas on how they would promote DSS in their local markets if they served in the position of Chief Marketing Officer for the summer extravaganza. A special jury comprising key DSS staff and other marketing professionals evaluated the submitted applications and selected the winning apprentice for each country based on the quality of the essays, completion of required documents, as well as the student’s expressed character, ambition, energy, and potential to make a valuable contribution to the continual enhancement of DSS.

In her winning essay Lara said: “By creating special discount booklets that are offered to visitors flying into the country during the festival period, visitors can be offered greater value at malls and boutiques, restaurants, cafés and entertainment events. Everyone is looking for a good deal, especially when travelling in large groups, and this would encourage more people to travel with their families.”

Dr Nedal A. Al-Fayoumi, Deputy Dean for Postgraduate Studies at the University of Jordan said: “Students participating in the DSS Apprenticeship Programme are given the extraordinary opportunity to work and train with the experts who organize and execute DSS, the region’s biggest summer tourism festival. This makes us very proud of Lara for being selected to join this programme. It is our privilege to have her as a voice from Jordan, sharing knowledge through this internship.”

The internship was set up to give winners the opportunity to build valuable corporate skills and gain exposure to best practices in business administration, marketing and events management by training alongside the talented experts who are responsible for putting together DSS over the last 13 years. The students will get hands-on experience working on preparations leading up to the launch of DSS as well as visiting and auditing key events during the festival period. As in previous years, the DSS Apprenticeship Programme also presents winners with a unique and valuable opportunity to establish a great network of potential future employers and corporate mentors.

The apprenticeship includes an all expense paid trip to Dubai and will be hosted at Southern Sun Qamardeen Hotel, conveniently situated in the Downtown Dubai district, home to the student apprentices for the fifth consecutive year. 

After the intensive two-week internship, the apprentices will present their fresh and creative findings and ideas to DSS senior management in the presence of other key officials who are among the stakeholders of the Dubai Events & Promotions Establishment. They are also encouraged to share insights from first-hand observation of this year’s event, with the aim of possibly incorporating these ideas in future DSS editions. Many of the recommendations of winners from previous editions of the DSS Apprenticeship Programme have been successfully applied while planning forthcoming editions of DSS.