Sheikh Hamdan shares video of enormous inflatables at popular Dubai attractions

Giant inflatables have taken over Dubai.

In a new video shared by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, some of the emirate’s most popular attractions are seen with huge floating pool toys.

The slick video shows a mammoth pink flamingo sliding down from the tip of Burj Khalifa, a jumbo-sized doughnut carefully passing through Dubai Frame and a giant rubber duck in front of Ain Dubai, among other instances of impressive video editing.

The post has already been liked by more than 363,000 people on Instagram and viewed more than 2.7 million times (as of writing) since it was uploaded on Friday.

Scroll the gallery below to see Dubai's popular tourist attractions.

This clip is from the city’s major promotional campaign called Dubai Destinations. The strategy comes as part of Dubai's efforts to enhance its profile as a leading global destination, focusing on a wide variety of leisure, dining, cultural and sporting experiences on offer.

The scheme was announced by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed, chairman of Dubai Media Council, in December.

"The Dubai Destinations initiative is a tribute to Dubai’s culture of hospitality and its open and inclusive outlook. With a wealth of creative content from diverse sources, this initiative will open many windows into Dubai’s uniqueness as a destination,” Sheikh Ahmed said.

The current season of Dubai Destinations runs until the end of August.

“Since its launch, the #DubaiDestinations campaign has focused on highlighting the quintessential Dubai experience and its uniqueness as a destination that offers a range of experiences that meet the tastes and interests of people across ages and nationalities," said Mona Al Marri, vice chairwoman and managing director of Dubai Media Council and director general of Dubai Media Office.

"With the focus now on Dubai’s various summer destinations, the campaign will showcase all that the city has to offer during this season with the objective of further raising the city’s profile as a leading global destination.

“As with each season of the campaign, the initiative aims to inspire citizens, residents and tourists to explore the captivating variety of leisure and entertainment choices in the city, including Dubai’s vibrant dining scene, its picturesque beaches, pools, outdoor activities and indoor attractions.”

Scroll the gallery below to see photos of Sheikh Hamdan over the years.

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.”

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Sheikh Hamdan shares video of enormous inflatables at popular Dubai attractions

Burj Khalifa, Ain Dubai, Burj Al Arab and Dubai Frame are some of the famous landmarks to be paired with huge floating pool toys

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