50 years ago, Dubai was just a tiny nomadic fishing village in the desert of the Arab Gulf. Today, it's playing host to one of the world’s most extreme shopping events. |
Take a look at the ongoing shopping festival, it is estimated to bring over 3 billion US dollars to Dubai’s economy.
In 2009, Dubai was hit hard by its local debt crisis caused by a real estate bubble and excessive lending. That’s why since then, Dubai has started a diversification campaign and gone big on the hospitality and services sector.
Dr. Zhiguang Samuel Yin, assist. prof. at Zayed University, said, "With the Dubai shopping festival, and a series of so-called big, world-known landmarks such as the Burj Khalifa, why does Dubai want to have so many world No.1s? It’s actually creating a brand effect, branding Dubai. The more visitors Dubai gets, the bigger flow of people it attracts, and the more money they bring to Dubai for future developments."
Last year, total spending at the shopping festival was equivalent to an eye-catching 5 percent of Dubai’s gross domestic product.
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