A surprise was in store for the Dubai Financial Market, the latest top global cities were revealed plus the UAE top innovator was announced. Ian Oxborrow writes
Growing staycation opportunities
Affordable luxury. It sounds somewhat like an oxymoron and has this week been trumpeted from the shores of both Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah, pictured. The two emirates are ramping up their tourism offerings with an expanding hotel scene as down-the-road Dubai continues to swell ahead of Expo 2020. The selling point is a peaceful alternative to the hustle and bustle of city life. "Sharm El Sheikh, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai cater for the masses. We want to cater for people who want to get away from the buzz and have a complete break," said Haitham Mattar, the chief executive of the RAK Tourism Development Authority. Ajman meanwhile is set to develop an international airport which could prove to be "game changer" with a free zone, offices and more hotels. And then there's also the cheaper room rates that come into the equation. This, however, could be the major challenge for the two emirates, with neighbour Dubai in April recording the biggest room rate decline in more than four years amid the fall in Russian tourists and the value of the euro. With more supply to come on line this year in Dubai, it might not be just Ajman and RAK offering affordable luxury.
BlackBerry story a cautionary tale
A forthcoming book on the rise and fall of BlackBerry is set to give a fascinating insight into what went wrong at the tech giant. We exclusively featured two extracts from the work by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, telling how Research In Motion - which BlackBerry was formerly known as - failed to move with the times with its popular BBM messaging service by rolling it out across all mobile platforms and was subsequently squashed by its competitors. BlackBerry and BBM are still with us, but are far from the force that they were a decade or so ago. The book, Losing the Signal: the Untold Story behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry, is a cautionary tale to not just companies in the technology industry but anyone in the retail sector of how quickly attitudes can change towards brands. A few years ago Twitter was all the rage, and while that is still going strong it has had to face social media rivals such as Instagram and Snapchat. Will they 'do a BlackBerry', or are they here to stay?
Welcome back to Amlak
Amlak's shares were welcomed back to the Dubai Financial Market on Tuesday after a six-year hiatus. The lender, 45 per cent owned by Emaar Properties, was one of the biggest casualties of Dubai's real estate crash in 2008, which severely impacted its loan book and property portfolio. A "bloody day" of trading was predicted with shareholders having been locked into their investment since the suspension, but a surprise was in store. Despite initially falling more than 12 per cent when the market opened and then fluctuating wildly throughout the day, the stock defied analyst predictions and closed flat at Dh1,02. More drama unfolded on Wednesday when both retail and institutional investors piled into the stock, sending the share price soaring 14.71 per cent to Dh1.17. Come Thursday it had gained another 14.52 per cent to Dh1.34. Said by one analyst to be "a case of pure novelty value taking precedence over fundamental value", the stock could be in for a roller coaster ride over the next week or so.
Dubai closing in on top of the world
Dubai has again moved up the rankings in MasterCard’s latest global destinations index. The climb has been steady from eighth in the index in 2012, to seventh in 2013 and fifth last year. Now it finds itself in a lofty fourth place, behind only Paris, Bangkok and London. Despite the fall in Russian tourists - whose spending plunged more than 50 per cent in the UAE in the first quarter - there is plenty in the pipeline to keep others coming back time and again. Due for delivery this year are the 65-hectare Quran Park near Dubai International Airport, the Dh250-million Deira Fish Market, and the huge Dubai Frame in Zabeel Park. Then next year there will be the first phase of Dubai Parks and Resorts. While the other cities placed above Dubai may posesses enviable historical cultures, Dubai is all about now and the future. A place in the top three next year?
Ambitious and inspiring, UAE’s top innovator
Our search for the UAE's top innovator came to a climax with the announcement of Ahmed Al Mazroei as the winner. Few could argue that the Abu-Dhabi-based inventor and businessman, also named UAE Entrepreneurial Personality of the Year, was a deserving number one choice having masterminded some remarkable creations. He is developing problem-solving technology every day including an automated falcon training system that preserves the lives of small birds and the lightest, most advanced robot camel jockey, developed to help its owners win races. Having also built his own car at the age of just 18, it will be fascinating to see what else he achieves in the coming years. These sharp minds need more than just a bright idea, however. As The National's editorial piece during the week stated: "Entrepreneurship requires an entire framework to work. As with one of Mr Al Mazroei's inventions, when all parts of the machine work together, then the final product appears effortless."
