DUBAI // Tour companies in India are cashing in on cricket fever ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE.
They are offering packages to fans eager to see their favourite teams play in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
Fans willing to travel have been snapping up offers that include visas, flights, hotels, transport to and from the stadiums, and tours of Dubai complete with desert safari and a dhow cruise. Some firms even offer the much sought-after match tickets.
“We are offering a minimum of three nights’ stay,” said Nalin Sharma, a sales representative of Holiday Travel in Chandigarh, a city in north India.
“We offer air tickets, hotel stay, sightseeing and visas. We also drop off and pick up from stadiums.”
The UAE is hosting the first phase of the seventh IPL, one of the world’s richest sporting leagues, from Wednesday. Twenty matches will be played over two weeks in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
Mr Sharma said his company’s travel packages start from Dh2,740. They went on sale as soon as the IPL tour of the UAE was announced.
“It was an opportunity for us to capture the market. We have had a lot of enquiries,” he said.
Staff at another travel company, in Haryana in north India, said they were hoping their packages would be a hit with Indian cricket fans.
“It is a special gift for cricket lovers to make the trip enjoyable for them as well as for their loved ones,” said Deepak Malguri, a sales representative of Lush Trip, whose packages start at Dh1,200 per person.
Mr Malguri said Lush Trip would try to arrange IPL tickets for its clients.
Tour companies in the UAE have not been slow to tap into the IPL mania either.
Lama Tours has bookings for 2,500 people, mostly from Delhi, and expect this number to reach 8,000 in the coming days.
“It is the first time here that cricket is being watched for entertainment rather than as a game,” said Kulwant Singh, the managing director of Lama Tours, whose packages start at Dh735.
“The response has been fantastic and we have a lot of groups coming to Dubai from Wednesday. Some of them who were planning trips elsewhere have changed their plans and are coming to see the games in the UAE.”
Lama Tours has bought about 1,700 tickets for its clients, particularly for the games on Friday, Saturday and April 28 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Mr Singh said his company had arranged UAE visas for 800 people who are part of the IPL, including players and team members. It has also arranged desert safaris for many of the cricketers and their teammates.
pkannan@thenational.ae
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Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
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In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
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SWEET%20TOOTH
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
COMPANY PROFILE
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
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Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
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Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
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ASTON VILLA 2015-16
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FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
THE SPECS
BMW X7 xDrive 50i
Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed Steptronic transmission
Power: 462hp
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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ALL THE RESULTS
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Catch 74kg
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Lightweight
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Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.
Bantamweight
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Featherweight title bout
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
Feeding the thousands for iftar
Six industrial scale vats of 500litres each are used to cook the kanji or broth
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The rice porridge is poured into a 500ml plastic box
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The%20specs
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SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"