Two South Africans – Gareth Pon and Craig Howes – are set to represent the South African Instagram community in Dubai, after being selected to participate in the #MyDubai Trip experience.
The 12 influential Instagrammers from across the globe will visit Dubai over the next four weeks to experience the emirate through the eyes of its residents, each following an itinerary which has been tailor-made for them by another 12 influential Dubai-based Instagrammers.
Their experiences of Dubai will collectively form the #MyDubai Trip video series, which is being produced in partnership between Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and Qabeela New Media, creators of the award-winning travel series Peeta Planet.
The selection of the final 24 instagrammers – global and Dubai-based – was conducted via two competitions, during which 40 international instagrammers campaigned for votes by stating why they should be given the opportunity to visit Dubai and 30 Dubai residents including media personalities Anas Bukash and Nouraldin Al Yousef; food bloggers Samantha Wood and Karen McLean; and entrepreneurs Omar Samra and Muneera Al Tamimi, created day-long itineraries, which were also voted on.
The #MyDubai Trip series will uncover the journey of the influential global instagrammers as they discover the emirate of Dubai through following the day-long itineraries. They will be joined by brothers Mohamed and Peyman Parham Al Awadhi, co-founders of Qabeela New Media and co-hosts of Peeta Planet, who will guide the visitors throughout their #MyDubai Trip.
Gareth Pon considers himself a dreamer, filmmaker, photo shooter and instagrammer. He has a knack for storytelling and usually tells them in multiples of 1 and 25 frames. “A little over 2 years ago I never would have thought that seeing the world would be a possibility”, said Gareth Pon. “Now I have the privilege to visit unique places, experience awesome moments & touch cultures all around the world! I’m really looking forward to embracing all that Dubai has to offer while hopefully adding a bit of my own creative flair.”
Craig Howes is a professional photographer based in Cape Town; specialising in live events, fashion and special occasions. The 28-year-old Capetonian has become one of the most followed South African on Instagram, with 90,000-plus followers. “I’m looking forward to Dubai. I’ve visited Dubai about 10 times before, however the most recent trip was about 10 years back. Every time I visited I saw a new development, a new building, a new road, a bridge or even an Island. I was there when the palm and Burj Khalifa was still a vision, so I’m extremely excited to see how all these developments now look. From a photographic point of view, Dubai is at the forefront of modern architecture and construction and cannot wait to capture the city streets, from the old to the new parts of Dubai,” said Howes
By creating the #MyDubai Trip series, Qabeela New Media is the latest company to join #MyDubai, the initiative launched in January this year by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) said: “The creation of #MyDubai Trip is a perfect addition to the wider #MyDubai initiative, as it has provided the opportunity for Dubai’s residents to showcase our emirate to international visitors, through creating their own personalized itineraries of the best they believe Dubai has to offer. There is no better way to experience a city than through the eyes of its residents and #MyDubai Trip will uncover some of Dubai’s hidden gems and lesser known highlights.”
The winning instagrammers started to arrive in Dubai from Thursday 11th September for a period of three or four days each, with the last arriving in mid-October. The #MyDubai Trip series is scheduled for online broadcast between November 2014 and January 2015. All pre-selected itineraries will be available online for local and international tourism purposes, both during and after the #MyDubai Trip series is broadcast, .
