Dubai is still seen as the luxury capital of the Middle East, despite its financial troubles, as retail sales in the emirate start to recover after steep declines during a turbulent 2009, retailers said. Retailers in Dubai, known for its opulent hotels and large shopping malls packed with top global brands, saw a 45 percent drop in sales last year according to industry estimates. But many retailers say the sector turned the corner in the first quarter of 2010. Ramesh Prabhakar, managing partner at Dubai's Rivoli Group in which Swatch Group owns a stake, said he expected 2010 to be significantly better than last year. “We are going to see an excess of luxury retailers and brands come in,” he said. “The UAE still brings in the majority of the numbers.” Rivoli has around 300 stores in the lower Gulf area and is one of the largest retailers of luxury brands in the region. It sells watch brands such as Omega, Tag Heuer Tissot and Boss. Dubai's retail sector, which generates a third of Dubai's gross domestic product, was hard hit as the financial crisis crimped consumer spending and the number of tourists to the emirate fell. A survey of the global retail market in 2009 by consultancy CB Richard Ellis ranked showed Dubai second attracting 55 percent of retailers, just behind London on 56 percent. Paris and New York ranked third and fourth respectively. Mohammed Al-Fahim, chief executive of Al Fahim Holdings, said he did not see candidates rivaling Dubai's position as the luxury capital of the Middle East, despite large expansions of retail space in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Total shopping mall supply in Qatari capital Doha is estimated to grow by 100 percent between the first quarter of 2009 and the fourth-quarter of 2010, a report by real estate consultant Colliers showed.
