ABU DHABI // Cairo has its Nile cruises. London has the Thames riverboat rides. And now Abu Dhabi has its own water-based touring experience.
For the first time here, amid an expanding tourism industry, residents and visitors can jump on to an inflatable boat and see the city's major sights from the vantage point of the Arabian Gulf.
Since its debut in November, the Yellow Boats company has conducted tours along the coasts of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
In Abu Dhabi, the boats take tourists past the Emirates Palace hotel, across the Corniche as far as Mina and then behind Lulu Island, offering a different perspective than from land. There are chances to stop and take photographs of the ever-changing skyline.
In Dubai, tours pass exclusive hotels such as the Burj al Arab and the Atlantis, and run by the Palm Island and marina.
The boats reach speeds of up to 96kph, and can take up to a dozen riders at a time. Passengers are not strapped in but have life jackets and a safety rail to hold.
For adrenaline junkies, tours can be customised, with faster speeds and fewer stops requested.
The launch comes on the heels of the Abu Dhabi Big Bus tour, launched in November, and brings the capital one more attraction for tourists.
"In the UK now, boat tours are a well-recognised format," said Michael Phillips, a partner in Yellow Boats. "It's up-and-coming to get out on the boat and into the water. We thought it would work well out here. We have got the climate and now the tourists; in Abu Dhabi, tourists are increasing."
More than 200 people have taken one of the 45-minute tours in Abu Dhabi. Currently, passengers must pre-book through a call centre, but by the end of the month they need only turn up at the marina and pay Dh150 (US$41)
No official statistics on the number of tourists visiting the capital have been compiled, but the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) uses the number of hotel guests as its measure.
The number of hotel guests for November was 132,626 a 19 per cent increase over 2008.
"By November's end, the year-to-date numbers of hotel guests amounted to just over 1.4 million," said Barbara Saunders, a spokeswoman for ADTA. She said the ADTA had targeted zero per cent growth last year and was hoping to equal its 1.5 million hotel guests. "We now believe that once the December figures are released the year's total will be slightly up on 2008," she said.
The boat tours, she added, represent a landmark in Abu Dhabi's tourism industry.
"It is another product which strengthens our ability to attract the leisure tourist, which is being given renewed focus as the destination increases its hotel stock," she said.
"Yellow Boats is the fourth leisure product offering to come online in Abu Dhabi in as many months," she said. The others include the launch of the Big Bus tour, the mangrove kayaking tours of Nakhuda and the Balloon Adventures hot-air-balloon tours over the desert.
Mr Phillips, who previously worked as a marine engineer, hopes that by summer the company will launch eco-tours in Abu Dhabi featuring a 90-minute ride around untouched coastline, in sight of sea life. He also plans to link the Yellow Boats enterprise with the Big Bus tour.
"We're in talks about tying in a tour with them," said Mr Phillips, who has lived in the UAE for a year. "This is a fun, exciting way to see the Abu Dhabi coastline."
@Email:asafdar@thenational.ae
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
The specs
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
