DUBAI, 11 January 2006 — Dubai has canceled this year’s annual shopping festival as a gesture of respect, following the recent death of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Maktoum ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum. The local newspaper Gulf News said the next Shopping Festival will run from Dec. 20, 2006, to Feb. 2, 2007.
Saeed Al-Naboudah, coordinator general of the festival, said the prescribed discounts on purchases of this year’s festival would remain valid up to Feb. 4 despite the cancellation.
Industry insiders said the cancellation will adversely affect retail, hospitality and entertainment businesses. “Of course, there will be a huge impact on businesses but the loss of Sheikh Maktoum is a bigger loss for the whole country,” said Eisa Adam Ebrahm, general manager of BurJuman mall, one of the biggest shopping centers in the emirate.
Retail spending during the month-long festival was expected to pass $2 billion. The last Shopping Festival recorded 3.3 million visitors, who spent $1.8 billion, or roughly $547 per visitor.
Visitor spending during the festival overshadowed the Dubai tourism sector’s revenue for the entire year of 2004. Hundreds of retailers had stocked huge quantities of merchandise prior to the event, which was due to start Wednesday before being put off due to Sheikh Maktoum’s death. Sheikh Maktoum died Jan. 4 during a private visit to Australia.
