The Dubai Mall, the world's shopping and entertainment destination, is boosting record sales, up 10 per cent as the Arab Spring and economic woes in Europe draw immigrants and tourists to the emirate.
"The Arab Spring has been positive for Dubai because a lot of Gulf-based people who used to go to Lebanon or Egypt have identified Dubai," chief executive Iyad Malas told the Reuters Retail and Consumer Summit on Tuesday.
MAF, the franchisee for Carrefour hypermarkets in 19 countries and operator of 11 malls across the Middle East and North Africa, including six in the United Arab Emirates, expected to maintain double-digit revenue growth in 2012, he said.
Its Dubai retail tenants saw a 15 per cent increase in footfall in the first half and 10 per cent growth in sales, Malas said.
The Dubai Mall first opened in 2008 and is part of the $20-billion Burj Khalifa complex. It includes 1,200 shops, 22-screen movie theater, an aquarium and underwater zoo, a replica of London's Regent Street and an Olympic-sized ice skating rink . Access to the mall is provided via Doha Street, rebuilt as a double-decker road in April 2009.
According to the Dubai Chronicle, Apple is considering opening its first store in the Middle East there.
In 2011, Dubai Mall became the world's most-visited shopping and leisure destination, and attracted more than 54 million visitors; the traffic was a 15 per cent increase from 2010 and surpassed 50.2 million visitors to New York City.
Here are some photos from inside and around the Dubai Mall:
