There are few immediately obvious parallels between golf and container terminal operations.
Port in a financial storm? DP World in motion
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Luxury watches, expensive cars, and banks are the sponsors one more readily associates with the sport.
But DP World, the global ports operator based in Dubai, is going into the third year of its association with the Dubai World Championship, as the main sponsor of one of the richest tournaments in the world. DP World is also in discussions to extend the agreement, which expires this year.
"Sponsoring events of such magnitude and prestige is always a carefully-weighed decision," said Mohammed Sharaf, the chief executive of DP World.
The reasons for sponsorship concern the company as well as the emirate, he said.
"It reinforces [Dubai's] position as an international sport and golfing destination," Mr Sharaf said. It also gives the ports operator, which has 60 marine terminals across the world from Peru to London, "a year-round branding opportunity", he adds.
"Contrary to popular belief, corporate boardroom decisions or huge business deals are seldom, if at all, struck between the 9th and the 18th hole.
"Having said that, golf's immense popularity in the corporate world stems from its innate ability to create networking opportunities and community relationships that go beyond business."
A total of US$15 million (Dh55m) is up for grabs at the finale of the Race to Dubai, which starts on Thursday. The competition involves the 60 top golfers on the European Tour competing for $7.5m in tournament prize money and a $7.5m bonus pool distributed among the top 15 players.
The Middle East offers the highest average purse per golf event in the world, according to data from KPMG, with the average prize money at professional golf tours in the region estimated at €2.15m (Dh10.5m). This compares to €1.14m in the US and €450,000 in Europe. The limited number of lucrative golfing events in the region partly explains why purses are so high.
The pay-off for sponsors often comes in brand value, important for names such as Rolex and BMW, which also sponsor the Dubai Golf Championship.
But for DP World, which has no consumer exposure, it is more about reinforcing "Brand Dubai" as a sporting destination.
"[The tournament] showcases Dubai in a very positive manner," said Colin Smith, the director of international development in the Middle East and Asia for the PGA European Tour. "The audiences are huge. Golf is a very befitting sport. The world's media arrives in Dubai. We have tourists coming in. We have the local population, which is made up of all stratas and nationalities, they come and watch it. There's a large knock-on effect. Obviously the major effect is the worldwide audience focusing their attention through 20 hours of live coverage of Dubai. DP World is not a consumer brand, so they're very keen to showcase Dubai."
The European Tour reaches about 500 million households through television each week, with the tournament promoting Dubai throughout.
The four-day event, for which tickets are free, attracts up to 60,000 spectators, he says.
Although there was talk this could be the last year for the event in the emirate, Mr Smith said Dubai was still the favoured destination.
"This is the last year of the current agreement and we're in discussions to continue that further," he said.
"I think in the last year of any contract there's always going to be rumours about what happens next.
"I would like to say that we're hopeful and we would like it to stay in Dubai. We're hopeful that it will stay in Dubai and we're looking to make an announcement on that quite shortly," he said.
Mr Sharaf said an announcement on the company's future involvement in the tournament would be made before the end of the year.
And there are similarities between the game and container terminal operations, Mr Sharaf said.
Golf is all about getting round the course in the least number of club strokes.
Operating a successful terminal is about manoeuvring containers using cranes in the fewest number of moves.
"We call it operational efficiency," he said.
rbundhun@thenational.ae
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Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
The five pillars of Islam
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
