In the heart of old Dubai, rehabilitated houses now house associations, museums and, of course, restaurants, all spreading the discreet charm of traditional Arabia preserved in the midst of contemporary ultra-craziness.
Day 1: Members and supplier-partners depart together. Welcome at the airport and transfer to the hotel.
Hotel - Dubai on Atlantis
Atlantis? It's huge, it's fun, it's far from the dictates of Western good taste, and it would mock the most uptight of orthodox designers. Apart from the amusement park - which participants in the 'Challenger Event in Dubai' will have the opportunity to discover - apart from its slightly peplum architecture revisited by Lawrence of Arabia, apart from its location at the end of the famous palm-shaped artificial peninsula, the hotel is not very different from any other luxury hotel. Everything is there, and everything contributes to excellence: the extreme comfort of the rooms and suites, the bars and restaurants, the spa, the fitness centre, the swimming pools and, of course, a conference centre with 14 meeting rooms totalling 5,600 m2... Oh yes! Atlantis has a real plus. It is built around a gigantic aquarium housing 65,000 marine animals frolicking in a field of reconstructed ruins, those of Atlantis. As the hotel's name suggests.
Crescent Road, The Palm - Tel: +971 4 426 0000 Email: info@atlantisthepalm.com - Internet: www.atlantisthepalm.com
Alternative - One & Only, the great chic
Three in one! The One & Only Royal Mirage is made up of three properties lined up along a kilometre of private beach; three establishments - The Palace, the Arabian Court and the Residence & Spa - each with its own character, but all sharing the same spirit of excellence. Choosing one among the three? Difficult, given the range from the very chic to the truly chic, and even the infinitely chic with the Résidence, a member of the Leading Hotels. But in any case, don't hesitate to move from one to the other, taking advantage of the public areas, especially the landscaped swimming pool and, above all, the spa and its hammam, which are truly breathtaking. In total: 450 rooms, eight restaurants, a rooftop bar, a beach bar, a nightclub, a 350-seat royal ballroom, three meeting rooms and a 300-seat open-air amphitheatre.
Jumeirah Beach. PO Box 37 252 - Tel: + 971 4 399 9999 Email: info@oneandonlyroyalmirage.ae - Internet: oneandonlyroyalmirage.com
Day 2: After breakfast at the hotel, city tour of Dubai. Traditional lunch in the Bastakiah district, visit to the Dubai Museum and souks. Dhow trip. Late afternoon: desert safari. Giant barbecue dinner in a private camp.
City Tour - There was nothing until 1960
Straight roads shivering under the heat of the vanished desert; hurried motorways spanning other roads, expressways suddenly sinking beneath the sea and an aerial metro towering above it all... A very sprawling whole, in fact, and generally without a single pavement. But this, in other words the Burj al Arab, Burj Khalifa and all the other towers, is undoubtedly for show. Because Dubai is also an old Arab city, where it all began just over a century ago. So there are souks and ancient palaces of notables, a great mosque and an old port. And there's also the sea, and the fabulous beaches of Jumeirah. But above all, there's the immense desert where it all came from.
Gastronomy - Old houses and Oriental flavours
Before the 1960s, people in Dubai were Bedouins or fishermen, and daily life was very much like subsistence. So it was fish, dates and the occasional sheep. And that was it. As a result, Dubai's gastronomy doesn't really exist. So restaurants have fallen back on international cuisine, particularly Lebanese and Iranian, both of which are so varied. The Bastakiah Nights restaurant, housed in an old house on the steps of the historic quarter, has made a speciality of this. Mezzes, kebabs, but also sublime stews.
Bastakiah Nights - Tel: +971 4 353 7772 - Email: Bastakr@eim.ae Facebook: Bastakiah N Rest
Safari - Gymkhana in the dunes and night camp in the desert
You would never have thought that the desert was so close, barely 50 km from the skyscrapers. The adventure begins with a session to deflate the tyres, a foretaste of great, and certainly false, dangers. The whole thing is very safe, and continues with a winding raid along a sandy track, stopping in the shade of the palm trees of a very welcoming oasis. And there's a demonstration of falconry, the favourite sport of wealthy Dubaiites. Finally, the real departure, in a convoy of around fifty cars. The vehicles attack the dunes. It's fantastic, like a gymkhana on a rollercoaster. The 4×4s wander around, one climbing a dune, the other plunging off a ridge. It's great fun, but you have to admit you're glad when it stops. At the end, we reach a sophisticated Bedouin tent camp, set up around a stage. Here and there are stalls selling henna tattoos, ice creams and camel milk chocolates, and even a kitschy photo studio. Later, there's a buffet dinner and an oriental dance show. And when everything comes to a halt, there's a sublime sky studded with stars, a milky way of eternity, the likes of which can only be seen in the desert...
Arabian Adventures. Emirates Holidays Building, Sheikh Zayed Road, P. O. Box 7631, Dubai, UAE. Tel: + 971 4 343 9966. Email: aamice@emirates.com - Internet: www.arabian-adventures.com
Souks - Tradition, again and again
First, there's the gold souk, where shoulder-to-shoulder shops sell tonnes of precious metal transformed into finely chiselled necklaces, rings and bracelets. This souk is so rich that it is renowned throughout the Middle East. Then there's the fabric souk, which carries on the tradition of Dubai as the hub of trade between the Middle East and India. Finally, there's the tiny spice souk, which sets up its multicoloured stalls on either side of a covered alleyway, generously offering yellow saffron, red chillies and many other mysterious powders. These old markets all line up along the Creek, where another timeless sight awaits visitors. This is the dhow port, in fact a single quay where old wooden boats are moored and overloaded with anything and everything: household appliances, crates and bundles loaded on men's backs. Just like the old days.
Culture - The high walls of the real oasis
Light years away from the clichés of hyper-modernity that cling to Dubai, the old town - for it does exist - is slowly orientalising along the Creek, an arm of the sea that looks like a river and that gently penetrates the land; right where Persian merchants settled in the second half of the 19th century. Today, there are around fifty buildings that have escaped the violence of the jackhammers and have been perfectly restored. It's a charming place, with high brown walls and a maze of narrow streets and old houses that have been transformed into cultural centres, art galleries and restaurants, all of which offer a warm welcome. The whole area is dominated by wind towers, an ingenious and beautiful traditional air-conditioning system. A little further away, the former Al Fahidi fort, built in 1787 and the oldest building in Dubai, now transformed into a museum, offers a scenographic discovery of life in days gone by. Thanks to wax mannequins posed in a pearl seller's stall, in a school or having tea in a tent, you can embrace the somewhat plasticised but nonetheless very edifying world of pre-oil men.
Dubai Museum. 19 Street, Al Fahidi Creek - Tel: +971 04 353 1862 Internet: www.dubaiculture.gov.ae
Day 3: Breakfast and opening of the seminar in the plenary room. Buffet lunch. Afternoon: supplier partner forum. Free day for spouses.
Burj Khalifa - The exhilaration of summits
And what's more, it moves... Not by much, but when you're up there, on your observation platform, and even more so when you're perched on the brand new open-air space, "at the top" as they say in Dubai, you can't help but feel a slight roll. Those prone to vertigo should definitely refrain! Because it's high, really high! At 828 metres, or 200 storeys, it is the tallest tower in the world. In fact, it holds all the records: the longest lift in the world (160 floors), the highest swimming pool (76th floor), the highest open-air observation deck (124th floor) and the highest number of habitable floors in the world (160 floors). Of course, it is designed to withstand earthquakes. But it still moves...
1 Emaar Boulevard, Downtown Dubai - Tel: +9714 8888124 Email: schools@atthetop.ae - Internet: www.atthetop.ae
Shopping Mall - Credit card woes
The shopping mall, in particular the Dubai Mall, the largest in the world, is the luxury-climatised version of the Arab souk of yesteryear. It's a place to stroll, meet people and eat. It's a place to pass the time, to enjoy the play areas ranging from the aquarium to the ski slope with artificial snow. It's also a great place to shop, with all the international brands represented. From watches to luxury cars. The only downside is that prices are almost the same as in Paris.
Day 4: suppliers' forum in the morning and plenary session in the afternoon. In the evening, dinner at the hotel.
Ossiano - Chic French-style dinner
First of all, the decor, because that's what amazes you on arrival. One of the walls, in fact the entire wall of the Atlantis restaurant, is none other than the glass of the gigantic aquarium. But that's not why we came; if we're here, it's above all for the cuisine of Grégoire Berger, a young French chef who recently arrived at the Ossiano and who works wonders behind the stove. The result is dishes of extreme sophistication. The cuisine of an impressionist artist, including a poached pear with white grapes, raspberries and violets to die for.
Ossiano. Atlantis The Palm. Tel: + 971 4 426 0000
Day 5: Fun & Sun at Aquaventure Park at the Atlantis The Palm hotel. Free day for all participants, with optional excursions on offer. Gala dinner in the evening.
Parc aquaventure - Adventure downstairs from the hotel
You'd think that would amuse the children... A good excuse really! Because the Atlantis water park, 17 hectares in all, offers just about enough thrills to stun the adults. Some of which are truly breathtaking. There's the pyramid, for example, from the top of which a near-vertical slide tumbles down. There's also a calmer river with rapids that you descend perched on huge buoys; there are zip-lines that fly over the whole thing, and dolphin pools where you can dive... And then of course there's the beach which, in addition to the football and volleyball pitches, offers just about everything there is in the way of water sports... A perfect playground for a treasure hunt or an extraordinary Olympics.
Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. Crescent Road, The Palm. Tel: +971 4 426 0000
Day 6: Return flight to Paris.
Practical information
Flight plan > Turkish Airlines operates the Paris-Istanbul route in 3 hours 30 minutes, with six daily rotations. The airline links Istanbul to Dubai in 5h25 by B777 or Airbus A330 and A321-200. The airline's lounge in Istanbul is undoubtedly one of the best in the world.
Tel.: 0 825 800 902
Internet: www.turkishairlines. com/en-fr
Agency > Challenger Event. Teleport 4 Antarès, BP 90114, 86961 Futuroscope Chasseneuil Cedex - Tel: 05 49 49 40 70 - Email: info@challengerevent.com or forence@challengerevent.com - Internet: www.challengerevent.com
Responsive > Arabian Adventures. Emirates Holidays Building, Sheikh Zayed Road, P. O. Box 7631, Dubai, UAE - Tel : + 971 4 343 9966 - Email : aamice@emirates.com Internet : www.arabian-adventures.com
Customer > Group of road hauliers.
Proposals > Summer universities and workshops to meet suppliers.
Group size > 200 people.
Operating time > 6 days. From Saturday 20 September 2014 to Thursday 25 September 2014.
For further information, please contact > Dubai Business Events Convention Bureau Tel: +971 600 55 5559 - Email: askdceb@dubaitourism.ae - Internet: www.dubaibusinessevents.ae Government of Dubai, France Department of tourism and commerce. 15 bis, rue de Marignan, 75008 Paris - Tel. 01 44 95 85 00 Email : dtcm-france@dubai.fr - Internet : www.dubaitourisme.ae
Practical guide > Petit fûté, Un grand week end à Dubai (Hachette).
Dubai: tradition behind the skyline
- Dubai: tradition behind the skyline
Interview with Florence Richard, manager of the Challenger Event agency
