Is the Dubai property market falling apart or finding a level?

[financier888]

Originally Posted by Sole Dubai

As a young educated blackman I have grown up with racism and despise the use of ethnic identity when referring to an individual or a collective group of people. To quote someone below " the arabs believe they are better than anyone". I despise the attrocities that have been committed by some people in Dubai and some of those people have been Emiratis. What you need to remember is the very people heading this frontier are all expats, British, American, German, Australian, South African, Lebanese, Syrian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese etc.. and this is just to mention a few. Most of this people created the problems Dubai is facing today, and some stood by and watched in silence and did nothing until it was too late. The Majority of people in Dubai speak English, have you ever wondered why that is?

Yes I agree that having towers unoccupied does not make business sense, however Dubai is working very hard to diversify it's economic drivers away from Oil dependancy and the real estate market. The tourism sector is very solid in Dubai with the hotel across the way from my lovely apartment running at a 100% occupancy rate 365 days a year. Booking well in advance is your only hope of securing a room and when a cancellation is made there is a waiting list for any cancellations longer than any bad list you could put on paper as to what is wrong with Dubai. My answer to you is this, the speculators who caused this mess have all but disappeared and hopefully not to be seen again. What we have been left with is a good base to rebuild a stronger real estate market with professional qualified individuals heading up the push for better times again. Call me optimistic, dilusional or stupid you're entitled to your opinion. However I am doing a lot more than most out there! I am not getting involved in this witch hunter of Dubai and taking a different stance in support of the efforts being made by this hospitable and simple people.

I have established long standing relations with several Emiratis who have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome. They share the concerns as we all do regarding the current situation of this beautiful city. They also have something most people do not see. They are proud, proud of the achievements of Dubai in such a short space of time. Proud of the government for implementing laws that have made Dubai a multi cultural community just as diverse as London but a hundred times safer. Do I feel safe in Dubai? Yes I do and I can safely say the thought of being mugged while walking down the street late at night has never ever crossed my mind in the past 4 years. I have witnessed individuals come to Dubai penniless and become millionaires within months. I have also winessed some of them lose it all, due to greed and their financial blue print not being altered to handle such money.

So if you're looking lay blame on anyone do not blame Dubai.. be more specific blame GREED! Blame the people that came to Dubai with only one aim, to get rich. To take advantage of the opportunities available to everyone. These people conducted business in such a manner that is immoral and unethical as they were here for a short space of time! Due to this fact they were not interested in establishing long standing business relationships. Blame some of the Emiratis who got involved in this practice or stood by and did nothing to stop it. I can only speak of my own experience, it doesn't make it wrong and it doesn't make it right! It is my experience.

I agree with your sentiments with one exception - the language that is most widely spoken in Dubai in URDU! Even amongst arabic speaking expats.(although , yes, most speak English as it a largely trading and tourism hub.)

Secondly, although of course, the large govt linked founders & senior management (board level ) are Emirati's - the expats you referenced -work for them! Most of the smaller developers are from India and Pakistan - which you have left out of your list..

In conclusion - yes, by all means, the govt could have acted quickly and been more proactive in enforcing the laws the enacted to protect investors

[paul66]

15/MAY/2009

'This is our Dubai, whats yours?' Ad Campaign launched to target UK and Ireland

Braving the global recession, Dubai has launched a massive advertising and marketing campaign in the UK and Ireland, revealed officials of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM)Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

The intention is to increase tourism traffic to Dubai during the Dubai Summer Surprises period from June 11 to August 14. Tourism is one of Dubai's most important sectors. It contributes directly towards 19 per cent of the emirate's gross domestic product.

However, industry experts believe that combined with the retail activity that Dubai encourages by means of various festivals and special promotions, this contributing figure could be as high as 30 per cent.

"We are constantly devising special advertising campaigns specific to the region and with a global approach. This campaign in the UK and Ireland is specific to that region, while we are working on an all-new global campaign to be launched very soon," said Eyad Abdul Rehman, a senior official at DTCM.

DTCM is very busy in organising everything and will be announcing the new global campaign sometime next week," said Rehman. He added that the department is finalising the finer details of the campaign and already in discussions with other involved parties including Emirates airline.

Dubai has been consistently increasing its dependence on retail and developing this sector with multi-million dollar investments in infrastructure and hotels in every category. Dubai's intention is to attract 10 million visitors by 2010 and increase the number to 15 million by 2015, which will be twice as many as there were in 2007.

Officials did not share the cost of the campaign, but considering it will be covering all the media platforms including print, electronic and outdoors, industry experts define it as a "multi-million dollar campaign".

Dubai has also been affected by the global economic recession, but figures according to the Dubai Tourism Board convey that the emirate is being resilient to the global gloom.

The first quarter of 2009 actually saw an increase of five per cent in tourism flow when compared to the same period last year. Hotels have recorded decline in occupancy and are offering discounts on room rates, but Khalid bin Sulayem, Director of the Dubai Tourism Board, stated during the recently concluded Arabian Travel Market that "the tourism industry is healthy and strong".

The UK remained the top source market for Dubai tourism industry in the first quarter of the year, followed by Iran, India, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia, Pakistan, France and Kuwait - same as the first quarter of 2008.

The campaign specifically aimed at the UK and Ireland markets has been created by London-based agencies Initiative and IM London (formerly Independent Marketing). The campaign, which is to be predominantly in print and digital media, sees an increase of 40 per cent on last year's advertising spend and runs alongside the existing public relations campaign that is managed by The Communication Group plc, reported UK media.

The campaign makes an emotional approach with the slogan "This is our Dubai, what's yours?" and the identification of distinct target market segments including couples, active men, pampered women and premium families. The campaign is to last 12 months.

"This is a regional campaign for the UK and Ireland, but in addition to our regional efforts, we also devise unified global campaigns and in the weeks to come we will be disclosing details of our new international campaign," said Rehman of DTCM.

Manisha Vora,
TigerZilla Properties (UAE)

[Brendan R]

funny, who wants to be in Dubai during the summer months? You can't go out. It's scorching.

Regarding shopping, long gone are the days when Dubai was an interesting place to shop. Prices are now 50% higher than mainstreet UK. Shopping in Dubai back in 2000 was great, now it's a myth. Tax free shopping is a myth. If you go, check the price of items in the UK and compare them to what you see in the malls, you will be shocked!

Regarding targeting the UK market, good luck. The UK is broke and so are its people. Don't count on Brits this time. We're in deep trouble ourselves.

It's funny how one country with failed business models expect they will save one another. Funny how in Britain people hope the rich Arabs will come and save the property market. Funny how Dubai hope the poor Brits will come and save their retail business.

Exceptionally doomed both ways.

[paul66]

Thank you Mr Doom and Gloom ... So erm, are you predicting the end of the world now this year or next?

[Brendan R]

Originally Posted by paul66

Thank you Mr Doom and Gloom ... So erm, are you predicting the end of the world now this year or next?

not predicting the end of the world, predicting the end of these doomed business models purely relying on debt and consumption.

It's back to work, the dream is over. Work hard and save and start building a life. Get rich quickly shortcuts are a thing of the past. Yes, it hurts, but it's true.

Not everybody can live in the sun, not everybody can be holiday all the time living on the back of rents resulting from BTL, not everybody is Beckham. reality is reasserting itself.

wake up, eat your english breakfast
go to your 9 to 5 work if you have one
Head for the pub for a few pints
put on the slippers
watch eastenders
eat a box of beans and two sausages
turn on sky to watch the footy

sometimes watch James Bond and start dreaming
every 4 year watch the world cup and get disappointed

yes dude, that's what life is about for the majority in the UK, and it's not going to get better

[PropGuy]

Originally Posted by Brendan R

predicting the end of these doomed business models purely relying on debt and consumption.

LOL it is not over yet. I see another super-cycle starting that could peek in 6-to-9 years.

[Brendan R]

Originally Posted by PropGuy

LOL it is not over yet. I see another super-cycle starting that could peek in 6-to-9 years.

LOL, some people around me predict the same, funny enough either they are heavily in debt or missed the previous cycles and don't have a single dollar set aside. They are in self denial and have PHDs in wishful thinking. When they open a bottle of Perrier, they think it's champagne

[PropGuy]

Originally Posted by Brendan R

LOL, some people around me predict the same, funny enough either they are heavily in debt or missed the previous cycles and don't have a single dollar set aside. They are in self denial and have PHDs in wishful thinking. When they open a bottle of Perrier, they think it's champagne

LOL people were saying similar things when dot com bubble burst in 2000, it was not the end of the world. But when market is going up most people think it will not come down and when the market is going down they think it will not go up; they become doomy and gloomy

[Brendan R]

Originally Posted by PropGuy

LOL people were saying similar things when dot com bubble burst in 2000, it was not the end of the world. But when market is going up most people think it will not come down and when the market is going down they think it will not go up; they become doomy and gloomy

to my knowledge, the nasdaq is still way below its peak, like the nikkei is far far away from its high of 39000 15 years ago.

Good luck if you think you have picked the bottom but don't expect new highs before a long long time

[PropGuy]

Where did I say picking a bottom. I said when market goes up it comes down, and when market goes down it comes up too. It doesn't has to go down as much as previous bottom or come up as previous peak, however, that doesn't change the fact that markets are cyclical.