UAE nationals spend three times more than the average customer on personal shopping services at London Heathrow – splashing out an average of Dh20,215 per visit.
Some 25,555 UAE nationals bought top fashion brands under the guidance of Heathrow’s personal shoppers in the past year, according to data released by the airport.
They represented almost half of the 55,600 people who used the service in the past year.
And 40 per cent of them were men.
But the spending spree comes at a worrying time for the global luxury goods sector, which has been hit hard by declining spending in China, Hong Kong and Russia and weakening tourist activity.
Emirati customers spent an average of £3,400 per visit, compared to £1,200 for the typical personal shopping customer.
“On average, each customer from the UAE visits us twice a year, spending in excess of two hours in a style consultation within our private suites,” said Dana Jaber, a style expert for Heathrow’s Personal Shopping service
“Our Emirati customers are particularly interested in the likes of Burberry, Smythson, Paul Smith and Jo Malone.”
Emiratis also outspent shoppers from other Arabian Gulf nations by a considerable margin, according to the data.
Qataris were the second highest spenders with an average shopping basket worth Dh7,134 and the Saudis with Dh6,879.
More than 80 per cent of personal shopping customers use the service to spend their value-added tax refunds before they fly home.
The buoyant sales figures come amid profit warnings from the luxury goods sector, in which the Middle East is expected to be a rare bright spot for the industry this year.
Worldwide luxury goods sales are expected to grow at their slowest pace in five years, Bain & Company said.
Global sales of personal luxury goods are expected to increase by about 2 per cent this year to €223 billion (Dh1.03 trillion), the slowest pace since 2009.
Britain’s Burberry Group yesterday warned that wholesale revenue would decline in the second half.
At the same time Mulberry, the handbag maker, cut its profit forecast for the third time in a year, citing a drop in tourist shoppers.
scronin@thenational.ae
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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WHAT FANS WILL LOVE ABOUT RUSSIA
FANS WILL LOVE
Uber is ridiculously cheap and, as Diego Saez discovered, mush safer. A 45-minute taxi from Pulova airport to Saint Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospect can cost as little as 500 roubles (Dh30).
FANS WILL LOATHE
Uber policy in Russia is that they can start the fare as soon as they arrive at the pick-up point — and oftentimes they start it even before arriving, or worse never arrive yet charge you anyway.
FANS WILL LOVE
It’s amazing how active Russians are on social media and your accounts will surge should you post while in the country. Throw in a few Cyrillic hashtags and watch your account numbers rocket.
FANS WILL LOATHE
With cold soups, bland dumplings and dried fish, Russian cuisine is not to everybody’s tastebuds. Fortunately, there are plenty Georgian restaurants to choose from, which are both excellent and economical.
FANS WILL LOVE
The World Cup will take place during St Petersburg's White Nights Festival, which means perpetual daylight in a city that genuinely never sleeps. (Think toddlers walking the streets with their grandmothers at 4am.)
FANS WILL LOATHE
The walk from Krestovsky Ostrov metro station to Saint Petersburg Arena on a rainy day makes you wonder why some of the $1.7 billion was not spent on a weather-protected walkway.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Read more about the coronavirus
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
RESULT
Manchester City 1 Sheffield United 0
Man City: Jesus (9')
