Dubai Summer Surprises announced the winners of the DSS Apprenticeship Programme 2009, bringing together nine of the brightest students from key regional markets to participate in the highly successful Business Administration and Marketing internship, now in its fourth year.
Winners were selected by a jury comprising of key DSS representatives and other marketing professionals who evaluated the students’ applications and selected one winner from each market to represent his/her country in the programme. Nominated students have been busy with the application process for weeks, which this year included an essay-writing component that asked students how they would market DSS in light of the current economic situation.
Sarah Mohanna from Dar Al Hekma has been chosen to represent Saudi Arabia in the 2009 edition of the DSS Apprenticeship Programme, along with students from colleges in Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Qatar, Lebanon and Egypt, and for the first time, the UAE.
Congratulating Sarah on her success, Laila Suhail, CEO, Dubai Shopping Festival Office said: “We were highly impressed by the quality of the candidates’ applications from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which made selecting just one winner a challenging task. However, Sarah put forth very interesting ideas in her application and we are very enthusiastic about having her join the eight other winning apprentices in working on Dubai Summer Surprises, the biggest summer fiesta in the region.”
All nine winners will be participating in an intensive two-week internship in Dubai, gaining valuable hands-on training in planning and executing Dubai Summer Surprises, the region’s biggest summer tourism extravaganza. For the duration of the two-week stay in Dubai, students will be hosted by the Southern Sun operated Qamardeen Hotel, situated in Downtown Burj Dubai, home to the student apprentices for the third consecutive year.
In her winning essay Sarah said: “I would update a website with the program of DSS 2009, listing schedules for all the events and activities that will take place. This will allow a huge number of people with different interests to engage in certain events and activities. Web pages are also easy to share through emails and blogs. The rising popularity of Facebook and Myspace should also be taken into consideration.”
During their apprenticeship, students will work on assigned projects, visit and audit key DSS events, and work closely with the DSS team, executing campaign strategies and gaining valuable training and real-life exposure to best practices in business administration, marketing and events management.
The DSS Apprenticeship Programme was one of the major factors cited by the jury that awarded The Dubai Shopping Festival Office the Travel & Tourism Award at the 2008 IPRA Golden World Awards in London last year. From four universities in two countries in 2006, the DSS Apprenticeship Programme now targets more than 40 higher education institutions in nine markets in the Middle East and North Africa, and for the first time this year, includes a winner from the UAE.
At the end of a demanding schedule of assignments and activities during their two-week internship working on DSS in Dubai, the students will present their observations to the DSS senior management, with the aim of putting forth bold and creative ideas for the 2010 edition.
