Business | General
People are spending more on dining and entertainment
Trend shows consumers upbeat about future as 68% prioritise recreation spending, MasterCard consumer confidence survey says
- By Aya Lowe, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 August 7, 2010
- Image Credit: Gulf News archive
- The return of confidence in reflected in the Dubai Summer Surprises in which participating malls reported total sales of Dh440 million in the first three weeks of the campaign.
Dubai: Consumer spending in the UAE remains focused on dining and entertainment according to the latest MasterCard consumer confidence report.
While consumer confidence is expected to be slightly lower during the second half of this year at 82.4 compared to 86.1 in the first half, 68 per cent of consumers say their spending priorities lie in the dining and entertainment sector. This is followed closely by personal air travel at 52 per cent and fashion and accessories at 49 per cent.
"UAE consumers are particularly upbeat regarding their intended future spending on dining and entertainment, international personal air travel and fashion and accessories in the coming six months.
"Historically, UAE consumers have tended to rate dining and entertainment and fashion and accessories quite highly. However, it is interesting to see that travel has also moved to the position of a top purchasing priority in this latest survey," Raghu Malhotra, general manager, Middle East (Gulf Countries), MasterCard Worldwide said in a statement.
According to Laila Suhail, the CEO of the Dubai Shopping Festival Office, the three products that had the highest demand fell in the clothes, cosmetics and electronics segments.
As confidence returns from the same time last year, when it was rated a low 29.6, approximately 67 per cent of consumers say they plan to maintain the same level of recreation spending as in the first six months, while 21 per cent say they want to increase their recreation spending.
This return in confidence is reflected in the Dubai Summer Surprises in which participating malls reported total sales of Dh440 million in the first three weeks of the campaign.
"The increase in sales is a reflection of growing consumer confidence in the economy and the success of our DSS campaign. We expect weekly sales growth of 10-12 per cent for the rest of the promotion period," said Majid Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Dubai Shopping Malls Group. The DSS is confident that on the back of growing consumer confidence, future shopping events it is planning such as Eid in Dubai, National Day and DSF 2011 will continue to enjoy positive sales.
"Now that the worst has passed we have a very optimistic look on the future of the retail sector in Dubai, especially that in the coming 6 months," said Suhail.
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