Global Village, the UAE and wider region’s leading multicultural family destination for culture, shopping, and entertainment, was joined today by leading industry voices from around the world in an engaging and energetic discussion on ongoing challenges and learnings around health and safety in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The insightful leisure industry-focused webinar pointed the way for other entities looking for actionable guidance on best-practice precautionary measures.  The broad and knowledgeable panelists covered key themes of enhanced infrastructure, risk management, technical guidelines from the government, HSE guidelines and learnings from opening parks in the UAE and further afield.

International entities on the panel included IAAPA, the British Safety Council and Ripley Entertainment, who covered off international best practice in going the extra mile to ensure visitor safety across operations. UAE-based speakers from Global Village, Dubai Municipality and Dubai Holdingbrought a sharper focus on the domestic situation, including showcasing enhanced safety procedures and the importance of standards such as the “Dubai Assured” accreditation. The goal of the webinar was to highlight a forward-looking agenda for the entertainment sector as a whole, driven by the authoritative and far-reaching selection of speakers. It successfully hosted hundreds of industry-related participants from around the globe.

Moderator:        Jonathan Rickard, Senior Director Corporate Strategy & Risk, Global Village

Panelists:            Ali Alsuwaidi, Chief Operating Officer, Global Village

Mohamed Al Dhanhani, Manager of Safety, Dubai Municipality

Jakob Wahl, Vice President, IAAPA

David Parr, Director of Policy and Technical, British Safety Council

Victoria Lynn, General Manager of Attractions, Dubai Holding

Victor Danau, Director Asia Pacific Development and Operations, Ripley Entertainment