Dubai targets over 5.5m overseas tourists this year
Dubai expects to attract over 5.5 million overseas visitors this year, hopeful that new markets can help make up for the loss of visitors from key places where travel is restricted.
Dubai had 5.5 million overseas visitors last year, when the tourism sector was pummelled by the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, 16.7 million tourists visited.
Visitors from India, traditionally Dubai’s top source market, are largely banned from the UAE due to the latest outbreak in the South Asian nation.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, Dubai’s third biggest source market in 2019, has barred direct flights and requires travellers from the UAE to hotel quarantine.
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UAE to allow investors full ownership of companies from June 1
The UAE on Wednesday announced that it would allow investors and entrepreneurs full ownership of companies starting June 1, 2021.
Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq in a tweet confirmed that the latest decision is a new step that reflects the UAE government’s commitment to supporting the economy and enhancing its readiness for the future.
In November 2020, the UAE announced that the landmark reform allowing foreign investors 100 percent ownership of businesses would take effect from December 1, 2020. However, after widening the scope of sectors eligible for full ownership by foreign investors, the law is now ready for roll out from June 1, 2021.
The long-anticipated and widely discussed reform, which will have game-changing implications on the investment landscape of the nation, was approved by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan last year.
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Gaming to crypto: UAE is abuzz with lucrative opportunities for investors
When COVID-19 hit the world in 2020, the countries that were deemed to be invincible appeared to be perturbed due to the lack of a proper contingency plan. The pandemic battered their economy, and seemingly, many of them are still struggling to push past the pandemic. The UAE, however, happened to be among the few countries that successfully managed to prevent its economy from falling apart. The focus on digital transformation helped the government in finding promising opportunities for business setup in the UAE amid the downturn.
From e-commerce & e-gaming to cryptocurrencies, the landscape of company formation in the UAE is abuzz with lucrative business opportunities. The shift to the ‘digital’ has proven to be a watershed moment in the way of doing business in the UAE. New entrepreneurs, however, should study and analyze the aspects of such opportunities before starting a business. Business setup consultants in Dubai, such as Jitendra Business Consultants (JBC), can guide investors about new developments and requirements.
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Investors flock to buy Dubai realty in Ramadan
Dubai’s real estate market continued its upward trend during the holy month of Ramadan despite reduced working hours as investors flocked to purchase apartments and villas amid fears of a price increase in the coming weeks.
The emirate recorded 4,804 property sales worth Dh9.99 billion, the highest number of transactions during Ramadan. The number of transactions in Ramadan this year grew by 211 percent compared to 2020 and 57 percent compared to 2019, according to data released by Property Finder Group on Tuesday.
Earlier, the emirate recorded the previous highest Ramadan sales in 2015 when it saw 3,870 property sales transactions and since then the number of transactions in the holy month have averaged around 2,500 every year. Ramadan 2020, being in the midst of the pandemic and in the lockdown last year, saw only 1,543 sales transactions.
“There was always a myth that the real estate market slowed down during Ramadan and a few years ago we dove into the data and debunked that myth. Ramadan has proven to be a strong time for real estate sales and as we can see this year the record breaking trends since the ease in lockdown continued during Ramadan,” according to Lynnette Abad Sacchetto, director of Research & Data at Property Finder Group.
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Emirates, Huawei ink agreement at ATM
Emirates signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei, one of the world’s top tech brands, on Tuesday, to further extend its existing partnership.
The enhanced collaboration will allow both brands to build awareness to a wider audience in the Middle East and beyond. The agreement was signed at Arabian Travel Market 2021 (ATM) in Dubai by Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice- President of Commercial Operations – Far East at Emirates and Lu Geng, Vice President Middle East and Africa of Huawei Global Partnerships & Eco-Development, signalling the deepened strategic cooperation between Emirates and Huawei and mutual benefits in expanding their reach in China and Middle East and African markets, respectively.
Also present at the signing ceremony was Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer and William Hu, Regional Business Development Director, Eco-Development Department, Huawei.
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UAE: 95pc of expats feel safe, says new study
The UAE ranks as one of the safest and most peaceful places in the world for expatriates, and performs better than the global average in several other key metrics to figure overall in 18th place out of 59 countries in a survey released on Tuesday.
In the Quality of Life Index, the UAE ranks 17th with especially good results in the Safety & Security subcategory (3rd), where only Finland (1st) and Singapore (2nd) do even better, according to the Expat Insider 2021.
“Nearly all expats (95 percent) feel safe in the UAE (vs. 84 percent globally). Additionally, 92 percent of expats find the destination peaceful (vs. 80 percent globally), and 89 percent rate its political stability positively (vs. 64 percent globally),” said the survey report by InterNations covering more than 12,000 respondents.
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Expo 2020 Dubai to drive growth in UAE’S key sectors
The upcoming Expo 2020 Dubai event will play a major role in accelerating the recovery of the UAE’s travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors from the Covid-19 pandemic, experts said at Arabian Travel Market (ATM 2021) exhibition.
Speaking to source at the event, several experts pointed out that 2021 will continue to be a challenging year for several of the UAE’s key sectors, but that recovery was on the cards and that the mega event would be a key factor is aiding this recovery. The also pointed out that the UAE’s tourism and hospitality sector is marching ahead and showcasing solid growth trajectory, supported by the ambitious economic diversification roadmaps outlined by governments such as the UAE’s Vision 2021 which will strengthen the UAE as a global tourism hub and position it as the number one tourism destination worldwide.
Stijn Bastiaens, VP and commercial director for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey regions at Hilton, said that there was already a strong demand for travel and hospitality being observed for the second half of this year, which will coincide with the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai in October.