Retail International ® published this year-end survey report in 2006. The forecasts made at the time of this survey may have been conservative. It is anticipated that at the end of 2007 and early 2008, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will show further significant growth in the amount of mall floor space either already completed or in the pipeline.

Retail International Survey Winter 2006
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DUBAI - ON TARGET FOR 100 MILLION SQ.FT GLA
by Simon Thomson
June 2007

Retail International® has issued an interim update of its annual survey of Middle East organised floor space in retail real estate that suggests that by 2015 Dubai could have nearly 10 million square metres (over 100 million square feet) of Gross Leasable Area if all projects so far announced are completed.

This shows a significant uplift from this time last year when Retail International® were projecting a potential total of approximately 4 million square metres within the same time frame due to the number of recently announced new projects.

Commenting on this uplift, Simon Thomson, Principal of Retail International®, said “Obviously if all this space gets built it will represent more than a 100 per cent uplift. The dramatic growth in the population and economy of Dubai no doubt can be advanced as reasons to justify this extraordinary addition to the amount of retail space in Dubai”. He added, “it will be interesting, however, to see whether this increase in space will result in an equivalent increase in the number of new retail brands in Dubai. Failure to do so will result in yet more ‘clone malls’ and do little to add value to the Dubai retail experience”.

Thomson noted how other destinations such as Jordan, Tunisia and now Libya were witnessing significant ingoing investment in retail/leisure related projects and potentially could offer future competition to The Gulf for retail tourists from Europe given the Mediterranean climate, archaeological sights and cheap short haul flights.

Simon Thomson C.R.E. is Principal of Retail International®. He is an active member of ICSC and was a founding director and past secretary of the Middle East Council of Shopping centres. He has been involved in the Middle East for 30 years. Simon formed Retail International® in 1993 as an independent retail consultancy to provide advice and market research to shopping centre developers and retailers in the Middle East and other international emerging markets. Retail International® is based in the United Kingdom, with associates in Poland, Turkey, UAE, Oman and Hong Kong. Recent assignments include major projects in Qatar, UAE and Lebanon. Retail International® produces regular reports about the retail markets of the Middle East with Simon a regular international conference speaker. More from: http://www.retailinternational.co.uk