Sun, sea, sand, shopping and now, increasingly, sport – these seem to be the key elements of our tourist promotion strategy. Pawan Singh / The National
Sun, sea, sand, shopping and now, increasingly, sport – these seem to be the key elements of our tourist promotion strategy. Pawan Singh / The National

Why we should share our emirate's many wonders



Regular readers will know that I have a soft spot for the country's heritage, wildlife and environment. Indeed, it's more of a passion than just a soft spot, an abiding interest that has absorbed me for decades.

I've tried to communicate that passion in a variety of ways, often, I suspect, becoming a bit of a bore on the subject, and I am happy that these aspects of the country now attract much more attention than was formerly the case.

I feel, however, that the way in which the country is promoted overseas as a tourist destination still pays insufficient attention to these topics. Sun, sea, sand, shopping and now, increasingly, sport – these still seem to be the key elements of our tourist promotion strategy. Where culture comes in, it often seems to be of a pastiche kind, such as desert safaris that conclude at fake Bedu camping sites where imported belly-dancing is put forward as some kind of authentic Emirati experience.

I was, therefore, delighted to read a couple of days ago that the chairman of Abu Dhabi's Tourism and Culture Authority, Mohammed Al Mubarak, had said that activities such as kayaking in the mangroves adjacent to Abu Dhabi city and visiting the archaeological sites of Al Ain and Sir Bani Yas were to be included as key elements in the emirate's tourism marketing programme, as well as the Saadiyat museums and malls, theme parks and the like.

Al Ain, he said, will be promoted as “the top heritage site in the Arabian Gulf”.

There's plenty to promote. In Al Ain, for example, of whose status as a World Heritage site we hear far too little, there's a whole range of archaeological sites dating from the Bronze Age, 5,000 years ago, onwards. On Sir Bani Yas, the Christian monastic settlement, founded about AD600, before the coming of Islam, is the only one known in south-eastern Arabia – and is, as Minister of State for Tolerance Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi noted a few weeks ago, telling evidence of the origins of the philosophy of tolerance that characterises the UAE today.

As for those mangroves just to the east of Abu Dhabi island, I remember fondly the days before a deepwater channel divided them from the island, when one could just walk into them, to enjoy the variety of wildlife to which they are home.

There is, of course, a lot that must be done to make these sites more attractive for visitors. The Hili Archaeological Garden, for example, which would serve well as a centre for Al Ain's archaeological attractions, needs a proper visitors' centre, along with an extensive programme of rehabilitating and conserving some of its sites which have, sadly, suffered from neglect for decades.

On Sir Bani Yas, more work on delineating the full extent of the monastery is required, along with a visitor centre, to make it the focal point of a heritage trail that could also include some of the much later Islamic period archaeological remains on the island.

Kayaking through the mangroves is already a popular pursuit, but more information about its environment and wildlife could be shared with visitors.

The new focus promised by the ADTCA chairman will require extensive expenditure – not easy in a period of financial stringencies. It will, though, be worthwhile, not just because it will provide attractions that will interest visitors, but also because it will help to emphasise that these aspects are integral parts of the country's identity, of which everyone needs to become aware, from school students upwards.

On every occasion when I have the chance to talk to meetings about the UAE and its past, I stress that, contrary to general perceptions, the UAE does, indeed, have a history, and one of which we can be proud. We need not just to recognise that ourselves, but also to promote awareness of it to visitors too.

Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture

Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Washmen Profile

Date Started: May 2015

Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Laundry

Employees: 170

Funding: about $8m

Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures

Tuesday's fixtures
Group A
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Iran v Uzbekistan, 8pm
N Korea v UAE, 10.15pm
Skewed figures

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. 

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.”

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

WWE Evolution results
  • Trish Stratus and Lita beat Alicia Fox and Mickie James in a tag match
  • Nia Jax won a battle royal, eliminating Ember Moon last to win
  • Toni Storm beat Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic
  • Natalya, Sasha Banks and Bayley beat The Riott Squad in a six-woman tag match​​​​​​​
  • Shayna Baszler won the NXT Women’s title by defeating Kairi Sane
  • Becky Lynch retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match
  • Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women’s title by beating Nikki Bella
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EImelda%20Staunton%2C%20Jonathan%20Pryce%2C%20Lesley%20Manville%2C%20Jonny%20Lee%20Miller%2C%20Dominic%20West%2C%20Elizabeth%20Debicki%2C%20Salim%20Daw%20and%20Khalid%20Abdalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWritten%20by%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPeter%20Morgan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%20stars%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Terminator: Dark Fate

Director: Tim Miller

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis 

Rating: 3/5

Company%20Profile
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