The annual Dubai Shopping Festival, started in 1996, attracted a record 2,280,000 visitors in 1998. Between them they spent a staggering $1bn.
This figure is expected to be surpassed at this year’s event, to be held between March 18-April 14, with sponsors including Emirates, the official carrier for the festival.
The city-wide shopping, entertainment and cultural extravaganza will see 2,300 retail outlets selling everything from gold, jewellery and haute couture to electronics goods, cars and textiles – all at what the organisers claim to be the cheapest prices anywhere.
Discounts, raffles for luxury cars, and gold and cash prizes will be an added inducement for visitors to ‘shop til’ they drop’, and associated events include the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horserace, on March 28.