Everyone interested in luxury cosmetics, perfumery and electronics flocks to the trade festival in Dubai.
This year, the consumer celebration has moved towards the emirate of Abu Dhabi into 'New Dubai', where new shopping arenas have opened on the approaches to the city surrounded by high-rise towers that have grown out of the sands. Over 3,000 retail stores and four dozen shopping centers and malls will take part in the month-and-a-half-long trade festival, which will end only on February 2. They have already announced sales, price reductions, prepared gifts and lotteries.
Shopping enthusiasts flock to Dubai. During this period, the city's million-strong population will multiply several times. Tourists from neighboring Arabian countries, former Soviet republics, Western European states, India, Pakistan, Iran, and even Australia will take part in the world's main trade festival.
The shopping frenzy begins right after leaving the plane at Dubai airport, continues throughout the city, and ends back at the airport. The local airport's Duty Free, now in its third decade, regularly acts as one of the main sponsors of the trade festival, preparing a huge assortment of goods for it and offering big discounts. In terms of turnover, Duty Free has entered the top three largest duty-free shops in the world.
The city features night bazaars and markets styled after Cairo's 'Khan al-Khalili', Isfahan's 'Bazaar Shah', the city market of Syrian Aleppo, and the Delhi market. In 350 jewelry stores, a kilogram of gold will be raffled daily for 45 days. Over the course of the festivals held since 1996, visitors to Dubai's Gold Souk have already won 619 kg of the precious metal. It is expected that this year the gold market's sales will exceed 800 million dirhams (nearly $218 million).
"The Dubai Shopping Festival is developing in parallel with the rapid economic rise of the emirate itself, with the development of the country. For us, each year is a certain milestone. Each season we set new goals. We expect that sales in the current festival season will break previous records. In this decade, Dubai will completely change, and with it all of its life. The shopping festival will receive corresponding development. The main change is the transition from quantity to quality," festival coordinator Saeed an-Nabooda told RIA Novosti.
The event in Dubai has gained fame not only in the region but also worldwide. Many foreign guests come specifically to participate in it. This is associated with one of the main problems of holding the festival: the hotel sector cannot keep up with the growing demand. These days, all Dubai hotels (over 400 in total) are fully booked. Previously, hotels were looking for clients. In recent years, despite the constant increase in the number of hotel rooms in Dubai, festival organizers are searching for hotel accommodations for their guests.
"We expect that the number of tourists visiting the emirate will grow to 16 million people, including thanks to the festival," says Saeed an-Nabooda. He noted that shopping is not the only entertainment available to guests. The trade festival includes 13 festival attractions. The main one is the largest parade of 75 giant balloons on the Asian continent.
The entertainment program also includes fashion, music, sports, family leisure, culture, art, and heritage festivals, as well as lotteries and a carnival. Festival organizers believe that tourists, alongside visiting shopping counters, will engage in surfing, swimming, and water skiing, will get indescribable pleasure from traditional Arabic coffee, and will admire falcons.
The festival has organized the world's largest food buffet. Gourmets will be offered 505 different dishes, including 101 types each of soups, salads, appetizers, sweets, and main courses. The buffet is located in one of the local parks. Its program includes competitions for preparing and decorating various dishes. Tastings of famous world cuisine dishes are planned. Cooking enthusiasts will be able to get recipes from Chinese, Indian, Japanese, European, and Greco-Middle Eastern cuisine with the aromas of ginger, sesame, curry, garlic, and other spices.
Dubai is literally carpeted with rugs, the trade of which is one of the largest events of the shopping festival. The total area of carpet products amounts to several million square meters. More than 150,000 skillful creations of human hands made of wool and silk are on sale. The main suppliers of colorful wonders are Iran, Turkey, China, Afghanistan, and India. This carpet oasis features 50,000 unique works of carpet art. On special stands, antique marvels of ancient masters and handmade items are on display. For comparison: the cost of bright carpet tapestries sold at the 2005 festival was 80 million dirhams (nearly $22 million).
Every day, one of the festival participants can win an expensive Lexus and a Nissan SUV. Each Dubai festival features special surprises. Last year, during its holding, a 'golden bull' weighing several tens of kilograms was raffled off. This year, the highlight of the holiday program will be an airplane. A local development company is holding a lottery among buyers of its real estate. It offers a chance to win a new Eclipse 500 Jet aircraft worth 5.5 million dirhams (nearly $1.5 million).
The first Dubai Shopping Festival took place in 1996. It was visited by just over one and a half million people, who left 2.15 billion dirhams (about $586 million) in the tills of local stores. Over the past ten years, the emirate's economy has taken a giant step forward, and the festival has grown accordingly. In 2005, 3.3 million people participated, and the total budget was nearly 6.67 billion dirhams (over $1.8 billion).
The organizers call this year's trade festival the "Mother of Festivals." In a city aspiring to the title of "trade paradise," shopping enthusiasts can satisfy their passion around the clock – night markets are open for this purpose. Every night, many stores and trading companies will offer their visitors goods from all over the world at wholesale prices. Here you can buy electronics, cosmetics, perfumes, books, watches, clothing, and household appliances. All night long, restaurants and cafes, a cinema, and a large amusement park will be open at the market.