Dubai Shopping Festival adds Dh.15.1bn revenue to the economy

Just before the kick-starting of the 17th edition of Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE) claimed that the DSF 2011 has given Dh.15.1bn boost to the emirate’s economy.

This was revealed following an in-depth market research study ever-conducted on the DSF. Commissioned by DEPE and conducted by lead global research firm YouGov, the study included 898 international visitors, 1981 UAE residents, throughout the festival period of 20th January to 20th February 2011.

The research aimed at pointing out major findings on spending habits, visitor profile, participant engagement and retailer perceptions of this annual shopping event.

According to Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group, and Chairman of Dubai World, Dubai’s ongoing investment in infrastructure and its commitment to build leading retail environment in the emirate has drawn several visitors and businesses to Dubai from across the world.

The festival and events sector further strengthens this offering of Dubai. DSF has been a highly successful event in the emirate since 1996, and has grown to be a brand that carries Dubai’s name far and wide.

DSF 2011 involved participation of 4million people. There were a total of 884,660 regional and international visitors in Dubai during DSF 2011, with majority of them being from India, Saudi Arabia, and UK. Nearly 60 percent of participating retailers indicated that consumer traffic has been the same or better than in DSF 2010.

The CEO of Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment, Laila Suhail, mentioned that over the past 16 years, the DSF played a central role in establishing itself as world’s leading retail destination.

The 2011 research findings indicate the importance of supporting and fostering economic growth and creating jobs in retail and events sectors. Given, the scale of the DSF event, coupled with the diversity of participants and the wide scope of research that the study presents, it was an interesting challenge from the outset, said Jaao Neves, Regional Director, YouGov.

Posted on 6/1/2012

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