WORLD WRAP
Impact: Tourist Spending
If the situation continues or worsens,
then Qatar’s tourism industry which
leads to tourists spending on luxury
retail goods could suffer a severe
impact. While the travel ban has
affected Qatar Airways flights, its
real implications for consumers
in Qatar, are still unclear. Despite
the Arabian country being home to
luxury brands such as Prada, Dolce
& Gabanna, Gucci, etc. still it is far
less a global destination against the
like of Dubai, a point that is reiterated
by Euromonitor International, and
for whom Qatar’s luxury market is
smaller than most other countries in
the Gulf. But this has to change as
the country will play host to the 2022
FIFA W orld Cup and therefore much
of the country’s retail development
is scheduled to open just before the
sports event, which is expected to
bring in a million visitors.
According to the Real estate firm DTZ,
Qatar’s retail space will grow by 220
per cent by 2019. This is evident as
last December saw the opening of the
500,000 square metre Mall of Qatar,
the nation’s 15th major retail complex,
whereas other retail developments
such as the US $ 290 million North
Gate Mall, the 57,605 square metre
Marina Mall and the outdoor Katara
Mall, which will house Qatar’s first
Galeries Lafayette, are underway.
Impact: Domestic Market
As per Euromonitor International,
Qatar’s apparel and footwear market
was worth US $ 1.3 billion in 2015 and
it is forecast to grow by 51 per cent by
2019. Another emerging intelligence
firm BMI Research expects consumer
spending in Qatar to grow by 3.2 per
cent in real terms in 2017, which
will see consumer spending levels in
the country to reach US $ 31 billion.
But the concern is rather to do with
logistics, as a few fashion and luxury
brands distribute to Qatar via UAE,
where they have partnerships with
Dubai-based operators and Qatari
local brand partners to Doha, who also
import from Europe via the UAE. But
BMI maintains that the ‘gas-exporting
Qatar’ still has huge fiscal buffers and
ESSENTIALS
Qatar’s luxury
market is smaller
than most other
countries in the
Gulf. But this is
to change as the
country will play
host to the 2022
FIFA World Cup
and therefore much
of the country’s
retail development
is scheduled to
open just before
the sports event,
which is expected
to bring in a million
visitors.
mainly trades outside the sub-region,
meaning its overall economic stability
is not under direct threat from the
cooling of GCC ties. But the economic
impact of the political situation that
Qatar is facing still remains to be
seen.
What do we expect
in days from now?
Being a subtle political situation and
with various counter measures being
taken to resolve the same, it’s still
unclear what the future holds for
Qatar. Though Saudi Arabia and its
partners have escalated matters with
Qatar significantly, it will take some
more time for matters to fizzle down
before they come to a consensus.
But both Qatar and Saudi-led GCC
members will need to find a common
ground for these grievances which
would result in a negative economic
ramification for Qatar. It remains to
be seen how the Gulf Crisis will be
resolved, or if isn’t than what it would
mean for Qatar, which was being
considered a new ‘fashion heaven’ for
international luxury brands…?
www.apparelresources.com | JULY 1-15, 2017 | Apparel Online India
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