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Dubai: Shopping is one of the most popular pastimes in Dubai, with a host of famous brands housed under many retail roofs.
Dubai's growth as a regional tourist and economic hub has had positive effects on the retail industry.
This effect has been encouraged and promoted by Dubai's own Shopping Festival, and its Dubai Summer Surprises programme, which both run successfully every year.
According to Retail International Statistics, the gross leasable area (GLA) in Dubai is currently 1.3 million square metres, with an equivalent amount or more also under construction.
This works out to 2.1 square metres of shopping space per head of Dubai's total population, or over 1,100 square metres per 1,000 of Dubai's population.
In Dubai alone, the retail space is predicted to grow by a further 1.2 million square metres, with the recent addition of Dubai Festival City and the future addition of Dubai Mall and Mall of Arabia.
Retail International also predicts that these figures could grow throughout the GCC to reach 15 million square metres in the next ten years.
Dubai's Summer Surprises programme has been running since 1998, and features many promotions, activities for children and families, and special events.
In its first year, visitor numbers reached 600,000 and they spent Dh850 million. In 2007 this figure grew to a massive 2,160,000 visitors spending Dh3.21 billion.
With temperatures pushing 50C in the summer, Dubai's malls are a haven for both shoppers and leisure-seekers alike.
Gone are the days when malls were just a group of shops. Far from that, today's malls offer a vast range of family activities and resources.
Free wi-fi internet access in many malls across the emirate attract business-people, who regularly visit malls for their facilities.
Cinemas and leisure centres (such as bowling and games centres) also provide a one-stop shop for families and the younger generation alike.
Keeping fit
Keeping fit is also easier now, as many malls house fitness centres and gyms. Of course evenings can prove the most busy for malls, attracting tourists and residents alike to their many restaurant and café outlets.
Dubai's first shopping mall was built in 1981, and is still popular today.
The Al Ghurair City mall covers 27,870 square metres of retail space, holding 250 stores, 350 apartments and 13,935 square metres of offices.
It was built by the Al Ghurair family on what was once an empty plot of land in Dubai, and now forms an integral part of the bustling hub that is Deira.
Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, opened the mall, after which he was taken on a tour of its souq area.
The Mall of Arabia is also set to be one of the world's largest shopping locations, with an approximate area of 929,000 square metres, which is roughly four times the size of Mall of the Emirates. Set to rival this is the massive Dubai Mall, at 9,290 square metres bigger, offering around 1,000 retail outlets. It will open later this year.
With so much to offer both residents and tourists alike, Dubai's shopping scene is set to increase with its increasing popularity as a Middle East hub.
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