Dubai: Luxury retailer Chalhoub Group announced on Wednesday that it has made an endowment of Dh5 million for the luxury brand management professorship chair at the American University of Sharjah (AUS).
The luxury brand management programme, launched in the Spring of 2013, is aimed at meeting the demand for knowledgeable professionals in the local and regional luxury market, including retail, and to attract them to work in that market.
“In retailing, it is something which is a worldwide issue. On a worldwide scale, there are very few courses on retailing, while there is much more workforce working in it,” said Patrick Chalhoub, chief executive officer of the Chalhoub Group at a press conference at AUS.
Dubai accounts for an estimated 40 per cent of the retail luxury market in the Middle East, growing at a rate of 12 per cent year-on-year, according to Chalhoub.
“It is because of the shopping experience which you find in Dubai and you can’t find yet elsewhere,” he said.
The global luxury market is valued at $300 billion — the Middle East represents between 3 and 4 per cent of that, he said.
“Luxury in the Middle East is growing faster than in the rest of the world,” he added.
Luxury consumption in the UAE is estimated to be valued at between Dh7 and Dh8 billion, while in the region, it is valued between Dh30 and Dh40 billion, and Dubai accounts for 30 and 40 per cent of this, according to Dr. Nicholas Ashill of the AUS School of Business and Management, who holds the professorship.
The programme offers “business models that has specific relevance to the luxury sector in this part of the world,” Ashill said, adding that it will introduce students to career opportunities in the luxury sector, including fashion, cosmetics, hotels among others.
