Desert secret

Dubai Heritage Vision general manager Johan Viljoen.

Half of the people we speak to know Jumana and love it and half have never heard of it.

"In some areas we have done extremely well I believe; in others, obviously, we've just scratched the surface. In any positioning strategy that is a huge challenge initially," says Viljoen.

"The multiplicity of the situation in Dubai poses a particular challenge. You cannot go through a single channel addressing all the communities in Dubai," he says, "which places a huge demand on advertising budget as you have to be in many places. And during positioning stages, frequency is very important," he adds.

"You cannot simply launch a campaign or just blitz a market and assume that there will be such a level of retention that we all remember the Jumana campaign next week. It's on-going. The seasonality of the business doesn't really help us," he admits.

On the flip side, Viljoen believes that as Dubailand establishes itself as a destination and becomes populated with other projects, then not only will people's perception of Dubailand as a remote location change, but Al Sahra will also be able to exploit synergistic relationships with other attractions.
 

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Future plans

The future for Jumana Secret of the Desert seems positive, with Dubailand set to receive increasing exposure, but the team is not one to rest on its laurels.

Last season recorded 80,000 visitors and Viljoen says that reflects a steady continuum upwards: "From a business point of view we have been able to reduce our costs as we become more familiar with what we are and what we do, streamlining the machine".

Imagistics shows typically run for three seasons, so the story of Jumana will not change this year.

However, Meyer reveals that he is working on a completely new choreographed show. Whether it will run for a fourth show is yet to be seen, but after a maximum of four years the show will change completely, but still be Arabic, he says.

"For the third season, the events on stage will be more elaborate and spectacular. And there will be even more action," says Meyer.

Particular changes include more magic and a larger role for the horses, as a result of previous audience responses.

There will also be interactive entertainment such as stilt walkers, camel rides and falcon shows as visitors make their way from the box office to the amphitheatre, plus singers and dancers in the resort's three F&B outlets.

"There's nowhere else in this town where you can get this sort of entertainment and fantasy," says Meyer.

Looking ahead, however, how will Al Sahra survive with the forthcoming launch of shows at Aqua Dunya in Dubailand and Cirque du Soleil on The Palm, Jumeirah, plus many others no doubt?

"It's really to make sure that we keep that unique Arabic-ness in whatever we offer and to stay as close as possible to the regional and the traditional," says Viljoen. "That's where we see our future and that's the path we will carve out for ourselves.

"I don't think it far-fetched to say that in 10,15 or 20 years from now, Al Sahra will be to Dubai what Central Park is to New York - a place where you can still kick off your shoes and stick your feet in the sand. That would be my personal vision," says Viljoen.

He adds finally that although in the future Dubai Heritage Vision will look to other projects, for now the focus is Al Sahra - a resort in the making.