Beachgoers feel burnt by prices

ABU DHABI // The fierce summer heat is limiting bathers to only a couple of hours on the beach, but the price of getting on to the sand can still reach up to Dh250 (US$68), and shows little sign of declining. With a limited number of serviced public beaches in Abu Dhabi, hotels and clubs are charging between Dh70 and Dh250 per person per day. Some hotels in the capital even refuse entry to day guests and non-residents on weekends or limit the number of facilities a day guest can use, while annual memberships cost from Dh2,500 at The Club at Meena Saadiyat, to Dh50,000 at the Emirates Palace hotel.

Despite the onset of summer and competition between an increasing number of beach clubs, hotels and clubs are reporting high demand for membership. However, several residents said the price of spending a day at the beach had forced them to consider alternative summertime activities. "It's all far too expensive," said Alan Ronald, who was shopping at Marina Mall with his wife, Margaret. "On your day off, you get up and get ready late. You're in the car by 11 and at the beach club by 12 and off the beach by five.

"Because of the heat, you can only stand that length of time. That's just an afternoon. "I don't mind paying money, but once you get there, a drink is extra and a meal is extra. Before you know it, for a family of four, you've spent £200 (Dh1,150) for the day. "I'm reasonably well off and even I can't afford it." Most hotels and clubs do not permit beachgoers to bring their own food and drinks on to the premises.

As an alternative to lying on the sand, Mr Ronald and his wife, who come from Scotland and moved to the capital last year, joined Abu Dhabi Golf Club, adding that a game of golf was more sociable. If they do hanker for a saltwater swim, they will now go to the recently opened public beach on the Abu Dhabi Corniche, which charges Dh5 a head, although it lacks a pool, lounge chairs and drinks service.

Mark MacLean, a Canadian on his second visit to Abu Dhabi, said he once made regular visits to The Club, but now goes to public beaches to save money, even though there are fewer services. Meanwhile, Mark Dewar, a Scot who was visiting his parents in the capital during a break at university, said: "My parents used to pay a fortune (on beach clubs) as there were five of us in the family. "We used to go down to The Club every day just to get our money's worth. We went in the afternoons for five years and then stopped because they just kept on putting the prices up," he said.

For annual membership, clubs often charge widely varying rates for male and female singles. Couples often get a discount. Hotels and clubs will often consider income and place of employment when choosing members. The Emirates Palace beach club denies access to its beaches and gyms to everyone except hotel guests and members. For Dh50,000 per year for a couple, or Dh40,000 for a single man or woman, members have access to a 1.3km private beach, a gym and two swimming pools. A can of cola costs Dh25.

The hotel said it was not short of applicants. A representative from the club said it was no longer granting new memberships as it had reached its limit of 92 members. At the Beach Rotana Hotel and Towers, the annual fee for a single man is Dh11,500 and Dh7,600 for a woman. On a weekday, someone who is not staying at the hotel can expect to be charged Dh150 for the day, but day guests are not permitted on weekends.

Weekday rates are slightly cheaper at the InterContinental Abu Dhabi. On weekdays the admission fee is Dh125 and Dh175 on weekends. However, day guests are restricted to either the pool or the beach and they cannot use the gym. A can of cola is about Dh14. The Hilton Abu Dhabi also bars non-members from the beach and pool areas on weekends. On weekdays, it costs Dh125 per person. The cheapest day at the beach can be found at The Club, which charges a weekday rate of Dh70 and a weekend rate of Dh140.

For those on a truly shoestring budget, the free beaches behind the Emirates Palace on Ras al Akhdar are popular, although they provide no toilets or changing facilities. jgerson@thenational.ae

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

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

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

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Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

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.”

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

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The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
not be younger than 25 years old
not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially