There is a Middle-Eastern air in stores in the West End of London as retailers provide Arabic-speaking personal shoppers and put up signs in Arabic to welcome visitors expected to spend a record £250 million (Dh1.5 billion) this summer.
More than 140,000 Middle-Eastern visitors are forecast to visit Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street in the next three months and spend 11 per cent more than they did in the same period last year, said Jace Tyrrell, the head of communications for New West End Company, which represents the district's 600 retailers and hotels.
The West End is focusing on its Middle-Eastern visitors, who are mainly from the UAE, because they still have high spending power despite the economic downturn, Mr Tyrrell said. "It makes commercial sense for us to be really giving them an increased level of customer service, given their spending."
Alongside Arabic-speaking personal shoppers, maps of the shopping area printed in Arabic and special hotel packages, some jewellers have arranged for private viewings of collections flown in from Paris exclusively for visitors from the Middle East.
"Some stores are even making wider aisles because Middle-Eastern visitors travel in big groups," Mr Tyrrell said.
Selfridges will stay open an hour and a half later to match the late shopping hours in the Middle East, and is bringing in products targeting shoppers from the region, said Bruno Barba, the store's PR manager. This includes product lines that are more ornate and bejewelled, perfumes with notes of traditional oud, and more halal foods, he said.
"This year, we've brought in some ranges that would hopefully please them more," he said. "There are abayas now on the shop floor that are very, very stylish."
The pre-Ramadan summer period brings hundreds of thousands of visitors from the Middle East to London every year. With the favourable exchange rate of Gulf currencies, pegged to a US dollar that has strengthened against the British pound, retailers are expecting an 11 per cent boost in retail sales, the highest during that period since the association began tracking sales.
The average shopper from the Emirates spends £1,109 in one shopping trip, while a tourist from Saudi Arabia spends £1,678, Mr Tyrrell said. Compare that with the average spend for an American shopper, which is about £600, and a UK shopper, which is £140, "and you start to see why the Middle East is an important market for us", he said. "And their spending is up 50 per cent to date."
Mr Tyrrell said data from Global Refund, which tracks tourists' sales in the UK based on applications for tax rebates, showed that sales by Middle-Eastern consumers in the West End of London during the first five months of this year were up by half.
Visitors from China spent 150 per cent more during the same period, while spending by Americans was up 23 per cent.
In the wake of the economic downturn, retail sales in Britain were down 1.6 per cent in May compared with the same month last year, according to the national statistics office in the UK. From February to April, total retail sales volume grew by 0.6 per cent, the lowest growth since Dec 1995.
While the number of visitors from Euro zone countries has risen because of the weak pound, retailers are still looking to the annual Middle-Eastern migration north to provide a boost, Mr Tyrrell said. "For the Middle East market, we only see growth," he said. "It's a key market and we're in a recession."
Stores in the West End are not the only ones setting their sights on the region. About 40 companies, including Hamptons, the property company that has a strong presence in the UAE, are showing their wares at the Gulf Luxury Fair in London from July 25 to 27, said Marianna Muroczki, one of the organisers. The fair is expecting 6,000 visitors, nearly double the 3,300 who turned up for the first event last year.
Seven out of 10 of those were from the Gulf, Ms Muroczki said. "The Middle-Eastern visitors to London are very important for luxury brands, department stores such as Harrods or Selfridges, for the reason that they still spend heavily on luxury purchases," she said.
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
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Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Key facilities
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
INFO
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