The Middle East

Dubai is one of the world’s leading shopping capitals, and the retail and wholesale sector is the biggest single contributor to the economy. Local iconic malls are constantly reinventing themselves, searching for new brands and experiences to attract global consumers to spend on fly-and-buy excursions.

The trajectory of Dubai’s real estate market is expected to turn upward in 2018, after a period of slowing growth. In April 2017 global property consultancy firm Cluttons announced that the emirate’s property market would likely stabilise and potentially enter a new period of growth before the end of the year. Recent analyses by other property...

In late April 2017 Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), which oversees tourism development in the emirate, announced the establishment of Dubai College of Tourism (DCT). The new institution signalled a major move on the government’s part to address the shortage of well-trained hospitality staff in the emirate.

With a significant number of new hotels set to open, a raft of private sector-led investments in leisure and business facilities, and the government’s ambitious transport infrastructure development plan well under way, Dubai’s tourism industry is poised for a period of considerable growth in 2018.

Perhaps the key driver of development in Dubai at the moment is Expo 2020, the world’s fair that will take place in the emirate over six months from autumn 2020 through spring 2021. The event, which is the first global exposition to be held in the MENA region, is expected to attract at least 25m visitors. Preparations have been under way for...

Over the past half-decade Dubai has risen into the upper echelons of the global maritime industry. In April 2017 it was named the fifth-most competitive maritime cluster in the world, and the 10th maritime capital overall by the Norway-based Menon Business Economics Group, which publishes a bi-annual report on the international maritime...