It didn’t take more than 10 minutes for James Sun to tour the Deira Gold Souq with his wife last month.
The couple were in Dubai for a three-day tour, and Mr Sun, who said he was interested in buying a watch, was not attracted by the jewellery shops.
Although usually packed with tourists and residents, the windows shining with the yellow metal were hardly a draw, and the Chinese tourists also made their visit to the spice souq swift.
"The Chinese tourists typically trust the airport duty free shops and reputed malls such as Dubai Mall for their personal shopping," said Guan Yuan Zhao, a freelance tour guide who has been working in Dubai for about seven years.
The couple were among a group of 10 tourists from China Sun Tourism that was visiting the UAE, part of a growing wave of visitors with unique requirements including access to Chinese bank payment systems, television channels and menus.
Most of the travellers are in the middle to upper-middle class, who have gained greater disposable incomes in recent years.
Chinese tourists are expected to spend $781 million in 2023 in Dubai, up from $488m in 2013 and the hotels, shops and entertainment facilities are already gearing up to welcome them.
Dubai attracted 344,329 guests from China last year, a 25 per cent increase over the previous, and Abu Dhabi attracted 120,350 guests, a 166 per cent rise from 2013.
“In the Middle East, Dubai has benefited from this growth due to its relative proximity to these countries, travel and accommodation facilities, and the successful marketing of the destination,” said Rashid Aboobacker, a senior consultant at TRI Consulting in Dubai.
Elsewhere in the region, Chinese travel to Mecca and Medina is forecast to rise by 50 per cent by 2023 as the country’s Muslim population is expected to grow to 2.1 per cent of its population by 2030, according to a report last month from consultancy Oxford Economics and the InterContinental hotels group.
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