Culture & Education | Monday 29 July, 2019 1:57 pm |

Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) organised a tour for taxi drivers employed by the Dubai Taxi Corporation, which included the Etihad Museum and the Founding Fathers’ Exhibition that the museum is hosting until the end of 2019.

The tour aimed at familiarising drivers with this national landmark, which narrates the UAE’s development process and its achievements, and introduce them to the different sections of the museum, the services it offers, visiting schedule, and booking channels. It also provided them with all the information related to the distinctive photo exhibition, where rare photographs of the two late Founding Fathers, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, are showcased, taken by renowned photographer Ramesh Shukla.

The tour sought to raise awareness among drivers of the importance of museums and enhance their contributions in spreading knowledge about museums by empowering them with information they can offer visitors and tourists about the Etihad Museum and its invaluable collection.

This tour, which included over 200 taxi drivers, was part of Dubai Culture’s commitment to developing the cultural tourism industry in the UAE, in line with Dubai Culture’s strategic development plan. The plan is aimed at attracting tourists from all around the world, in addition to Expo 2020 Dubai, the largest global event in the region, by promoting Dubai’s cultural, intellectual, and heritage attractions and platforms for driving cultural tourism and activating creative economy based on culture, arts, and heritage, in turn enhancing Dubai’s visitor experience, in line with Dubai Plan 2021.

Abdulla Alfalasi, Director of Etihad Museums, underlined the importance of the tour. He said: “Led by our continuous projects and initiatives, Dubai Culture strives to strengthen cultural tourism in the UAE as a vital sector, which actively supports our creative economy, through Dubai’s vast variety of historic, heritage, and cultural elements.”

Alfalasi added: “This tour helped us achieve several goals, most notably educating taxi drivers, who play a key role in promoting cultural tourism, by providing them with accurate information, enabling them to answer tourists’ questions correctly. It also qualified them to serve as tourist guides offering visitors of different cultures and nationalities new and valuable information about the UAE. The drivers learned about Etihad Museum and its historic significance, and the works showcased in the Founding Fathers’ Exhibition as well as listened to inspiring stories about the birth of the Union, allowing them to contribute to the transfer of knowledge.”

Alfalasi also highlighted Dubai Culture’s desire to strengthen its partnerships with other government and private entities for driving cultural tourism in the country as well as enrich its creative economy and visitor experiences, enhancing Dubai’s position as a global tourism destination and capital of culture and arts.

Dubai Culture aims to enhance Dubai’s cultural scene and draw attention to the UAE’s rich heritage. The Authority’s mandate is to build bridges of constructive dialogue between different civilisations and cultures to enhance Dubai's position as a creative and sustainable global city for culture, heritage, arts, and literature, with the aim to empower these sectors by developing creative and innovative projects and initiatives locally, regionally, and globally.