Dubai is the shopping capital of the Middle Eastern world
Muslim travellers spent billions says new study
If there's any murmurs of a global economic slowdown, it's likely not to affect our globe-trotting community. Mastercard and CresentRating recently conducted a study on the travelling habits of Muslim travellers and the results are quite astounding. In 2014, the demographic spent $US36 billion on their travels, with $US9.3 billion on shopping alone.
Aside from the total figures, the report also focused on where that money was distributed around the world. Not surprisingly, Dubai took top spot as a shopping destination along with Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, London and Istanbul rounding out the top five.
Other insights from this study include how the money was spent (souvenirs, local brands, handicrafts gave inside information on consumer buying habits). Within the Middle East it was Dubai, Manama, Doha, Riyadh and Sharjah, which took top honours as the premier shopping destinations.