DUBAI // Some of Dubai's biggest and most famous structures will be turned into pixels in a computer game aimed at promoting the emirate.
A virtual island containing replicas of structures including the Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah, are part of a marketing proposal submitted by a German firm to the luxury hotelier Jumeirah Group. They hope the simulation, to appear on the virtual-world computer game Second Life, will drive more tourists to Jumeirah's hotels in particular, as well as the Emirates as a whole.
The project is the brainchild of Angela Gelenbe, who has been a travel agent in Leipzig for 20 years and has run a virtual holiday firm in Second Life for the past three. She already owns a hotel in the game with a similar design to the Burj Al Arab which has proved popular among players.
"Lots of people see the Burj here and then go and visit the real-world Burj Al Arab," said Ms Gelenbe of the virtual version. "I thought that perhaps there was a market here for Jumeirah to exploit." Ms Gelenbe, whose in-game persona is named Angie Ling, said her virtual tourism business has helped to drive customers to her real-life company.
Second Life, launched in 2003 by Linden Lab, is an online game where individuals create images of themselves called avatars and interact with each other in electronic worlds. Users can create their own buildings, which can be purchased in Linden dollars, an in-world currency that can be converted directly into US dollars through an exchange.
Among a list of possible game strategies is to create an island called "Dubai" with virtual replicas of well-known hotels. Real-world tour operators such as Thomas Cook and TUI can then be invited to rent out the rooms to virtual residents while at the same time marketing their own tours to Dubai.
Currently, Ms Gelenbe rents out suites in her own 10-room Burj hotel for a minimal rate of 200 Linden dollars a week, or Dh2.8 at current exchange rates. While her virtual profit is minimal, the exposure helps her actual business gain clients, she said.
Second Life captured the popular imagination when the developer Anshe Chung became the first person to become a real-world millionaire through selling virtual property on the game in 2006. At the peak of its popularity, brands as varied as IBM and Adidas set up a presence in Second Life and Reuters established a news bureau with a beat reporter.
Hoteliers also got into the act, with Starwood Hotels establishing its first Aloft branded hotel in the game to get user feedback on the design. Many corporations have since withdrawn and some experts say the game's commercial appeal has waned.
Nick Abrahams, a corporate lawyer for Norton Rose in Sydney, said: "Two or three years ago I was doing a lot of work for corporates who were interested in Second Life. The corporates who were involved with it have since pulled back. The problem is that there doesn't seem to be the right kind of people, nor a critical mass of people, to make it work."
However, the success of any in-game marketing campaign is largely dependent on how it is pitched and corporate defections in recent years may actually represent an opportunity, said Kimberly Rufer-Bach, the owner of a Second Life marketing firm called The Magicians.
She said its success depends on the "exact market targeted and the approach taken."
mcroucher@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
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.”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
