Ten nights of souk shopping at Dubai night market

A night market will launch in Dubai this Ramadan, where retailers from around the region are set to sell a variety of quirky products and speciality foods.

A night market is set to launch in Dubai this Ramadan. Ravindranath K / The National

A night market is to be launched in Dubai during Ramadan with retailers from around the region selling a variety of quirky products and speciality foods.

The Ramadan Night Market will host up to 300 independent retailers over 10 days from 8pm to 3am in the Dubai World Trade Centre, alongside the Majlis tent, Modhesh World and the Sports World complex.

“It’s going to be a hustling, bustling place,” said Sunil Jaiswal, the chief executive of Sumansa Exhibitions, the organiser of the event. “It’s going to be a different shopping experience than going to a mall.” The market will have a number of different categories of retail, including food from around the world, garments, accessories, electronics and health and beauty items.

The organisers expect 2,000 visitors per day and have already received requests from retailers that would enable the available space to be filled twice over.

“We are targeting retailers from the Middle East and further afield because a lot look at this as a good opportunity to come to Dubai when spending is high,” said Mr Jaiswal.

So far, the organisers have had interest from retailers in the Gulf and the Indian subcontinent. All the retailers are small to medium-sized businesses, selling from stalls, Mr Jaiswal said.

Spending on gifts often increases during Ramadan as shoppers buy presents for loved ones ahead of the Eid Al Fitr celebration at the end of Ramadan.

The night market is expected to attract customers looking for a bargain or for something out of the ordinary.

“My gut feeling is that it’s going to be the prices that draw people in and the bargains that are available,” said Mr Jaiswal.

“There’s a huge, huge market out there for these kind of retailers.”

The launch of the market comes as retail spending in the UAE is on the increase, with retailers reporting sales growth this year up 15 per cent from a year earlier on the strength of a buoyant market.

New malls are cropping up in Abu Dhabi, and developers are adding space to existing shopping centres in Dubai as confidence grows among local consumers amid rising numbers of visitors coming to the UAE. Retail sales in the Emirates are expected to grow 44 per cent from an estimated Dh124 billion (US$33.7bn) this year to Dh179bn by 2016, according to Business Monitor International, a research consultancy.

It also estimates that tourist arrivals in the UAE will reach 12.5 million this year, up 7 per cent on last year. “Dubai has definitely turned a corner. It’s an internationally renowned city,” said Mr Jaiswal.

Sumansa hopes to offer a large area of space to local small and medium-sized businesses that can win new local customers and gain repeat business after the show.

“I really want to offer this to the local businesses here,” said Mr Jaiswal. “We feel there’s a very strong market here.”

Sumansa, established in 2006, helps to run exhibitions in several locations including the UAE, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore and Hong Kong. The events organiser’s flagship exhibition is the Indian Property Show in the Dubai World Trade Centre.

“There will be a number of events at DWT,” said Mr Jaiswal.

“It’s going to be a place to go, and we will begin marketing to bring people in.”

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