Feb 01 2013
Friday, Feb 01, 2013
Dubai
Faisal Vahedna invested a few thousand dirhams to start his electronics retail business, Vahedna Trading in Deira, Dubai, way back in 1996.
Prior to that, he worked for 12 years in his uncle’s shop, Ashrafi Electronics, where he had learned the tricks of the trade.
It was in the middle of an unprecedented retail boom in Dubai caused by the growing demand for electronics and household appliances in Russia, the Central Asian and East European countries – that have been liberated from socialist regimes and gave birth to free economy, something which triggered the demand. Due to easy accessibility, Dubai was the most to benefit from the changeover. As a result, electronics retail thrived in the city.
Both Ashrafi Electronics and Vahedna Trading are located in Sabkha, Deira – the meeting place between Dubai’s wholesale and retail businesses. On one side of Sabkha lies Murshid Bazaar – the wholesale market, that is closed to the Dubai creek where the wooden dhows load large number of electronics and household goods destined for a number of countries including Iran, India, Pakistan and African coastal markets.
Sabkha, Dubai’s centre for trade, wholesale and retail activities, also remains crowded during evenings – as a meeting place for traders and customers. It is always abuzz with shoppers. It was an ideal location for Vahedna to start and expand his business. However, his wholesale and re-export business picked up faster than retail operations due to the location.
It was of no coincidence that the same year Dubai Government had also launched the annual Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) – to boost the emirate’s retail, trade and tourism sectors.
From a small shop, Vahedna Trading today grew to a Dh1 billion turnover company that deals in electrionics, household and information technology items, thanks to DSF, among other factors.
“Many people think that the DSF attracts just tourists and shoppers. During the last 17 years, my company has attracted so many traders, who later came back to place large-scale orders,” Vahedna tells Gulf News. “After their first visit, most of them usually start trading with us.”
His retail business also thrived due to high influx of tourists and shoppers. He says, this way, Dubai has managed to divert many traders from other major hubs – such as Singapore and Hong Kong to the emirate.
“All of them are here for the DSF,” Vahedna says.
The DSF has been a key contributor to Dubai’s economy. Millions of visitors spend billions of dollars during the DSF every year to help boost the economy of Dubai and the UAE, especially the retail, tourism, airlines, transport, restaurants and entertainment sectors that thrive on higher sale throughout its duration.
More than 50 million visitors spent a total of Dh117 billion during the DSF so far, a spokesperson of Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE), organisers of DSF, told Gulf News. This translates to a per capita spending of Dh2,340 ($638) per visitor to the DSF.
The DSF was also part of the government’s strategy to diversify its economy and reduce dependency on hydrocarbon to make it more sustainable once oil runs out. Since its inception, it has been paying off the emirate rich dividends year after year.
Most retailers make provisions for larger inventories for DSF. “We usually witness a 25 per cent increase in sales of electronics, household and IT products,” Salim M.A., Director of Lulu Hypermarkets, in Dubai, tells Gulf News. “We start building inventories for the DSF two months prior to the festival to ensure the smooth supply of the goods.”
Every year, Dubai Government ropes in key private sector entities in a sponsorship programme to part-finance the DSF budget that are spent in advertisement, marketing and promotion of the event at a grand scale to help attract tourists and shoppers to participate in the DSF attractions.
The success and the return on investment are so high that the same business houses, conglomerates and corporations come back every year to support the government in organising the DSF. This is perhaps, the best example of how public-private partnerships could boost a local economy.
“This remarkable journey of success was planned by Dubai’s leadership decades ago, for their farsighted vision and their determination to achieve the set plans has seen the city through challenging times,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group and Chairman of Dubai World, said in a statement issued last month.
When one thinks of Dubai, the image one portrays of the city is that of a hub for trade, tourism, retail and financial services. Others consider Dubai – the city of superlatives – as a collection of some tall towers. Very rarely one realises that Dubai is also an eventful city – a place abuzz with events where something or the other is happening round the year.
It is the events sector that makes things happen in this city of two million people that also attracts more than 10 million tourists annually – be it business deals, exhibition, conferences, corporate meetings, sports, shooting of Hollywood and Bollywood movies, desert safaris, city tours, cultural and entertainment events, concerts, fun and festivals, raffle draws or promotional events, fund raising for cyclone-hit people – that transcends across various segments of the society, brings people closer and bridge cultures – true to the spirit of the DSF slogan, One World, One Family, One Festival.
“Foreign visitors during this festival have increased from 1.6 million in 1996 (since inception) to 4.3 million in 2012, a 168.7 per cent increase over 17 years which indicates the success of this event year on year,” Bharath M, analyst at Frost and Sullivan, told Gulf News.
According to a latest research by YouGov, the overall consumer spending during the DSF has a significant impact on Dubai’s economy, bringing in more than Dh14.7 billion during the 2012 DSF – or the equivalent of $1 billion per week.
Ghassan Aridi, Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Tours, told Gulf News “The DSF has been a major contributor to Dubai’s tourism industry and the overall economy. We usually receive 25 to 30 per cent more visitors to Dubai when hotel occupancy remains high. Besides, tour operators remain extremely busy with increasing number of city tours, desert safari, dinner cruises and other activities.”
Total
shopping spend rose from Dh8.7 billion to Dh8.9 billion, and accommodation spend was up from Dh2.7 billion to Dh2.8 billion, DEPE said in a report.
“The DSF supports our retail industry, showcases our events expertise and contributes significantly to Dubai’s hospitality and aviation sectors, as well as a host of other businesses and industries in the city. Our offering in retail and events is, we believe, second to none, and we will strive through a coordinated government approach and through continued and innovative partnerships between our public and our private sectors,” Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of the Department of Economic Development, said in a statement in December.
The success of the DSF and other events has encouraged the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), the world’s leading events trade association, to crown Dubai with the prestigious ‘World Festival and Event City 2012’ recognition last year in the category for cities with a population of more than one million. DSF was one of the highlighted events in the award entry.
“The Dubai Shopping Festival has broken new grounds in establishing tourism and retail standards and benchmarks. Further, DSF has also successfully showcased the capability of Dubai and the UAE in hosting events of an international scale,” Ibrahim Saleh, Coordinator-General of DEPE, told Gulf News.
One of the key reasons why DSF is such a mega hit worldwide is because of the life-changing opportunities that it offers to people from all walks of life and from different nationalities that very often create extraordinary rags-to-riches stories, explains Saleh.
“Through a combination of world-class events and mind-boggling shopping-related offerings DSF has succeeded in creating a base of tens of thousands of repeat visitors, as well as enticing new tourists to visit Dubai during DSF,” he says.
The power of DSF sale are felt not only by the retailers, but also the credit card brands, such as Visa, which remained a loyal partner of the DSF for a long time. International visitors to the UAE have spent over $153 million on their Visa cards in the first week of Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2013, registering a massive 34 per cent year-on-year growth over the first week of DSF 2012, according to statistics issued today by Visa,
Karim Beg, Visa’s Head of Regional Marketing for MENA, revealed that Visa achieved a 22 per cent year on year growth during DSF 2012, with inbound card spend totaling over $497 million (Dh1.82 billion) compared to $406 million during DSF 2011. “Card holders from Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom were the top spending countries – with each showing significant increases in spend compared to DSF 2011,” he said.
Sidebar 1
DSF spending of Dh117 billion outranks 110 economies worldwide Dubai
Total
spend registered during the 17 editions of the annual Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) – Dh117 billion ($31.88 billion) – is higher than the gross domestic product (GDP) of at least 110 countries in the world, Gulf News has learnt.
According to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the United Nations statistics, 85 countries have had GDP higher than $32 billion till 2011.
In the absence of the 2012 statistics (yet to be compiled), if the 2011 list is to be considered, then 110 of the 195 countries listed with the United Nations have GDP lower than $31.88 billion, including Yemen, Libya, Ethiopia, Jordan, Latvia, Panama, Cameron and Estonia, etc.
However, when it comes to the Dh14.7 billion ($4 billion) economic impact of the DSF in a single month (January 5, till February 5, 2012), the event outshines at least 40 economies in the world.
According to the United Nations’ list of countries ranking as per the GDP, at least 40 countries’ GDP is lower than $4 billion.
Sidebar 2
Deep impact
Aryan Menon, a 5-year-old from South Indian state of Kerala, has loads of fun playing with a variety of toy cars. But suddenly his world has changed. He won two luxury cars and a pile load of cash – that he even has difficulty in counting!
While playing with the toy cars – or matchbox cars – his subconscious mind might have prayed for the real thing – the actual cars. Now he is faced with the the real thing after winning not one but two luxurious Infiniti models and an astonishing Dh100,000 in cash in a raffle draw that has taken place at the on-going Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF).
“This came as a huge surprise as we have been unsuccessful in the raffle draws held in the previous years but still we kept buying the raffle tickets as we knew that if we try and try, we will succeed one day,” says Aryan’s father Prashant, a resident of Dubai for the past 11 years. Menon is one of the thousands of lucky winners whose lives have changed for the better thanks to the DSF raffle draws.
DSF has so far distributed more than Dh80.5 million in cash, 33 Rolls Royce cars, 719 kilogrammes of pure gold, 1,430 Lexus, 542 Nissan and 105 Infiniti cars, a business jet and an island on the Arabian Gulf – through 1,900 DSF raffle draws during the last 17 years with a collective value of Dh1.5 billion ($400 million)!
With promotional offers and discounts of up to 75 per cent in 70 shopping malls and 6,000 shops backed by more than Dh100 million worth of raffles and prizes including luxury cars, gold and cash and more than 150 events during the 32-day festival, the DSF has changed the lives of thousands of people during the course of its history.
DSF was launched to boost retail and tourism industry in Dubai as the emirate was then trying to develop itself as the Singapore or the Hong Kong of the Middle East.
Box
DSF in Numbers
Dh117 billion total spend recorded by DSF in 17 editions
50 million visitors recorded by DSF in 17 editions
Dh14.7 billion impact of DSF in Dubai’s economy in 2012
4.36 million visitors attended DSF attractions in 2012
1,900 raffle draws conducted in 17 years
Dh1.5 billion worth of prizes distributed in DSF in 17 years
Dh100 million worth of prizes are shelled out in raffle draws on an average every year
719 kilogrammes of gold were disbursed in DSFs in 17 years
33 Rolls Royce cars were raffled out
1,430 Lexus cars were given away in raffle draws
542 Nissan cars were given as raffle
Dh1.82 billion spent through Visa credit cards during DSF 2012
Chart/Graphic
DSF visitor traffic and spending (1996-2012)
Year No of Visitors Retail Spend
[In millions] [in AED billion]
1996 1.6 2.15
1997 1.6 2.79
1998 2.2 3.81
1999 4.15
2000 2.55 4.31
2001 2.55 4.50
2002 2.68 4.60
2003 2.92 5.12
2004 3.1 5.80
2005 3.3 6.67
2006 Cancelled
2007 3.5 10.2
2008 3.2 10
2009 3.35 9.8
2010 3.5 10.2
2011 3.98 15.1
2012 4.3 14.7
Dubai Faisal Vahedna invested a few thousand dirhams to start his electronics retail business, Vahedna Trading in Deira, Dubai, way back in 1996.
Prior to that, he worked for 12 years in his uncle’s shop, Ashrafi Electronics, where he had learned the tricks of the trade.
It was in the middle of an unprecedented retail boom in Dubai caused by the growing demand for electronics and household appliances in Russia, the Central Asian and East European countries – that have been liberated from socialist regimes and gave birth to free economy, something which triggered the demand. Due to easy accessibility, Dubai was the most to benefit from the changeover. As a result, electronics retail thrived in the city.
Both Ashrafi Electronics and Vahedna Trading are located in Sabkha, Deira – the meeting place between Dubai’s wholesale and retail businesses. On one side of Sabkha lies Murshid Bazaar – the wholesale market, that is closed to the Dubai creek where the wooden dhows load large number of electronics and household goods destined for a number of countries including Iran, India, Pakistan and African coastal markets.
Sabkha, Dubai’s centre for trade, wholesale and retail activities, also remains crowded during evenings – as a meeting place for traders and customers. It is always abuzz with shoppers. It was an ideal location for Vahedna to start and expand his business. However, his wholesale and re-export business picked up faster than retail operations due to the location.
It was of no coincidence that the same year Dubai Government had also launched the annual Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) – to boost the emirate’s retail, trade and tourism sectors.
From a small shop, Vahedna Trading today grew to a Dh1 billion turnover company that deals in electrionics, household and information technology items, thanks to DSF, among other factors.
“Many people think that the DSF attracts just tourists and shoppers. During the last 17 years, my company has attracted so many traders, who later came back to place large-scale orders,” Vahedna tells Gulf News. “After their first visit, most of them usually start trading with us.”
His retail business also thrived due to high influx of tourists and shoppers. He says, this way, Dubai has managed to divert many traders from other major hubs – such as Singapore and Hong Kong to the emirate.
“All of them are here for the DSF,” Vahedna says.
The DSF has been a key contributor to Dubai’s economy. Millions of visitors spend billions of dollars during the DSF every year to help boost the economy of Dubai and the UAE, especially the retail, tourism, airlines, transport, restaurants and entertainment sectors that thrive on higher sale throughout its duration.
More than 50 million visitors spent a total of Dh117 billion during the DSF so far, a spokesperson of Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE), organisers of DSF, told Gulf News. This translates to a per capita spending of Dh2,340 ($638) per visitor to the DSF.
The DSF was also part of the government’s strategy to diversify its economy and reduce dependency on hydrocarbon to make it more sustainable once oil runs out. Since its inception, it has been paying off the emirate rich dividends year after year.
Most retailers make provisions for larger inventories for DSF. “We usually witness a 25 per cent increase in sales of electronics, household and IT products,” Salim M.A., Director of Lulu Hypermarkets, in Dubai, tells Gulf News. “We start building inventories for the DSF two months prior to the festival to ensure the smooth supply of the goods.”
Every year, Dubai Government ropes in key private sector entities in a sponsorship programme to part-finance the DSF budget that are spent in advertisement, marketing and promotion of the event at a grand scale to help attract tourists and shoppers to participate in the DSF attractions.
The success and the return on investment are so high that the same business houses, conglomerates and corporations come back every year to support the government in organising the DSF. This is perhaps, the best example of how public-private partnerships could boost a local economy.
“This remarkable journey of success was planned by Dubai’s leadership decades ago, for their farsighted vision and their determination to achieve the set plans has seen the city through challenging times,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group and Chairman of Dubai World, said in a statement issued last month.
When one thinks of Dubai, the image one portrays of the city is that of a hub for trade, tourism, retail and financial services. Others consider Dubai – the city of superlatives – as a collection of some tall towers. Very rarely one realises that Dubai is also an eventful city – a place abuzz with events where something or the other is happening round the year.
It is the events sector that makes things happen in this city of two million people that also attracts more than 10 million tourists annually – be it business deals, exhibition, conferences, corporate meetings, sports, shooting of Hollywood and Bollywood movies, desert safaris, city tours, cultural and entertainment events, concerts, fun and festivals, raffle draws or promotional events, fund raising for cyclone-hit people – that transcends across various segments of the society, brings people closer and bridge cultures – true to the spirit of the DSF slogan, One World, One Family, One Festival.
“Foreign visitors during this festival have increased from 1.6 million in 1996 (since inception) to 4.3 million in 2012, a 168.7 per cent increase over 17 years which indicates the success of this event year on year,” Bharath M, analyst at Frost and Sullivan, told Gulf News.
According to a latest research by YouGov, the overall consumer spending during the DSF has a significant impact on Dubai’s economy, bringing in more than Dh14.7 billion during the 2012 DSF – or the equivalent of $1 billion per week.
Ghassan Aridi, Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Tours, told Gulf News “The DSF has been a major contributor to Dubai’s tourism industry and the overall economy. We usually receive 25 to 30 per cent more visitors to Dubai when hotel occupancy remains high. Besides, tour operators remain extremely busy with increasing number of city tours, desert safari, dinner cruises and other activities.”
Total
shopping spend rose from Dh8.7 billion to Dh8.9 billion, and accommodation spend was up from Dh2.7 billion to Dh2.8 billion, DEPE said in a report.
“The DSF supports our retail industry, showcases our events expertise and contributes significantly to Dubai’s hospitality and aviation sectors, as well as a host of other businesses and industries in the city. Our offering in retail and events is, we believe, second to none, and we will strive through a coordinated government approach and through continued and innovative partnerships between our public and our private sectors,” Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of the Department of Economic Development, said in a statement in December.
The success of the DSF and other events has encouraged the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), the world’s leading events trade association, to crown Dubai with the prestigious ‘World Festival and Event City 2012’ recognition last year in the category for cities with a population of more than one million. DSF was one of the highlighted events in the award entry.
“The Dubai Shopping Festival has broken new grounds in establishing tourism and retail standards and benchmarks. Further, DSF has also successfully showcased the capability of Dubai and the UAE in hosting events of an international scale,” Ibrahim Saleh, Coordinator-General of DEPE, told Gulf News.
One of the key reasons why DSF is such a mega hit worldwide is because of the life-changing opportunities that it offers to people from all walks of life and from different nationalities that very often create extraordinary rags-to-riches stories, explains Saleh.
“Through a combination of world-class events and mind-boggling shopping-related offerings DSF has succeeded in creating a base of tens of thousands of repeat visitors, as well as enticing new tourists to visit Dubai during DSF,” he says.
The power of DSF sale are felt not only by the retailers, but also the credit card brands, such as Visa, which remained a loyal partner of the DSF for a long time. International visitors to the UAE have spent over $153 million on their Visa cards in the first week of Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2013, registering a massive 34 per cent year-on-year growth over the first week of DSF 2012, according to statistics issued today by Visa,
Karim Beg, Visa’s Head of Regional Marketing for MENA, revealed that Visa achieved a 22 per cent year on year growth during DSF 2012, with inbound card spend totaling over $497 million (Dh1.82 billion) compared to $406 million during DSF 2011. “Card holders from Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom were the top spending countries – with each showing significant increases in spend compared to DSF 2011,” he said.
Sidebar 1
DSF spending of Dh117 billion outranks 110 economies worldwide Dubai
Total
spend registered during the 17 editions of the annual Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) – Dh117 billion ($31.88 billion) – is higher than the gross domestic product (GDP) of at least 110 countries in the world, Gulf News has learnt.
According to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the United Nations statistics, 85 countries have had GDP higher than $32 billion till 2011.
In the absence of the 2012 statistics (yet to be compiled), if the 2011 list is to be considered, then 110 of the 195 countries listed with the United Nations have GDP lower than $31.88 billion, including Yemen, Libya, Ethiopia, Jordan, Latvia, Panama, Cameron and Estonia, etc.
However, when it comes to the Dh14.7 billion ($4 billion) economic impact of the DSF in a single month (January 5, till February 5, 2012), the event outshines at least 40 economies in the world.
According to the United Nations’ list of countries ranking as per the GDP, at least 40 countries’ GDP is lower than $4 billion.
Sidebar 2
Deep impact
Aryan Menon, a 5-year-old from South Indian state of Kerala, has loads of fun playing with a variety of toy cars. But suddenly his world has changed. He won two luxury cars and a pile load of cash – that he even has difficulty in counting!
While playing with the toy cars – or matchbox cars – his subconscious mind might have prayed for the real thing – the actual cars. Now he is faced with the the real thing after winning not one but two luxurious Infiniti models and an astonishing Dh100,000 in cash in a raffle draw that has taken place at the on-going Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF).
“This came as a huge surprise as we have been unsuccessful in the raffle draws held in the previous years but still we kept buying the raffle tickets as we knew that if we try and try, we will succeed one day,” says Aryan’s father Prashant, a resident of Dubai for the past 11 years. Menon is one of the thousands of lucky winners whose lives have changed for the better thanks to the DSF raffle draws.
DSF has so far distributed more than Dh80.5 million in cash, 33 Rolls Royce cars, 719 kilogrammes of pure gold, 1,430 Lexus, 542 Nissan and 105 Infiniti cars, a business jet and an island on the Arabian Gulf – through 1,900 DSF raffle draws during the last 17 years with a collective value of Dh1.5 billion ($400 million)!
With promotional offers and discounts of up to 75 per cent in 70 shopping malls and 6,000 shops backed by more than Dh100 million worth of raffles and prizes including luxury cars, gold and cash and more than 150 events during the 32-day festival, the DSF has changed the lives of thousands of people during the course of its history.
DSF was launched to boost retail and tourism industry in Dubai as the emirate was then trying to develop itself as the Singapore or the Hong Kong of the Middle East.
Box
DSF in Numbers
Dh117 billion total spend recorded by DSF in 17 editions
50 million visitors recorded by DSF in 17 editions
Dh14.7 billion impact of DSF in Dubai’s economy in 2012
4.36 million visitors attended DSF attractions in 2012
1,900 raffle draws conducted in 17 years
Dh1.5 billion worth of prizes distributed in DSF in 17 years
Dh100 million worth of prizes are shelled out in raffle draws on an average every year
719 kilogrammes of gold were disbursed in DSFs in 17 years
33 Rolls Royce cars were raffled out
1,430 Lexus cars were given away in raffle draws
542 Nissan cars were given as raffle
Dh1.82 billion spent through Visa credit cards during DSF 2012
Chart/Graphic
DSF visitor traffic and spending (1996-2012)
Year No of Visitors Retail Spend
[In millions] [in AED billion]
1996 1.6 2.15
1997 1.6 2.79
1998 2.2 3.81
1999 4.15
2000 2.55 4.31
2001 2.55 4.50
2002 2.68 4.60
2003 2.92 5.12
2004 3.1 5.80
2005 3.3 6.67
2006 Cancelled
2007 3.5 10.2
2008 3.2 10
2009 3.35 9.8
2010 3.5 10.2
2011 3.98 15.1
2012 4.3 14.7
By Saifur Rahman Business Editor
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
© Copyright Zawya. All Rights Reserved.
DSF injects AED117bn to Dubai economy in 17 years
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