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Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business
In the wake of recent fluctuations in the luxury market, the third edition of the Arab Luxury World conference will bring together regional and international players of the industry to share their knowledge, data and research on consumer needs.
The concern has been raised globally. Job cuts and consolidation have not left the luxury sector untouched either. Luxury group Richemont announced earlier this year that it will cut 300 jobs. However, in April Bloomberg reported that Richemont may restrict the job cuts to 100.
Julien Hawari, Co-CEO of Mediaquest, told Emirates Business, “The third edition of Arab Luxury World conference 2016 will be an offering to everybody who is somewhere associated with the business of luxury to discuss the challenges, opportunities and potential of the premium and ultra-premium goods and services markets.â€
The Arab Luxury World — the conference on the business of luxury in the Middle East — will see 700 regional and global professionals from the premium goods and services sector congregate in Dubai next month to discuss problems and offer solutions to all of the industry’s stakeholders.
The two day conference, which will be held in Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi on June 1-2, will look into
all of the facets of the luxury industry through more than 30 panel discussions, presentations and private sessions.
The conference will see a gathering of high-profile individuals and international experts spanning
the entire sector – including entrepreneurial business people,
distributors, fashion designers, manufacturers and retailers, as well as consumers and decision-makers, from across the GCC region.
Disruption of technological advances, rethinking strategies, rapid changes and the risks from an increasingly integrated global economy are just some of the factors that have led to ‘The New Normal’ in the industry worldwide. At the event, the experts will examine what this ‘New Normal’ means and how will it contribute toward the services sector GCC in particular.
While e-commerce has risen as a very valued asset to the trading industry, it has also emerged as a significant sales mode for the luxury industry. The sector has been witnessing a robust growth, GCC countries are expected to have 40 percent growth in e-commerce by 2020, reported Frost & Sullivan. Following which the IT research firm says the potential of e-commerce in the Gulf is very high and, by 2020, e-commerce sales across GCC countries is expected to touch US$41.5 billion (AED152.42 billion).
“For this year’s conference, we’ve decided to have an overarching theme of ‘The New Normal,’ with more than 30 separate activities spread over the two days. We’ve
also invited luxury brands to provide us with an insight into their
understanding of the luxury market,†he added.
Around 120 global luxury industry experts will deliberate major challenges and still ensure growth regardless. The theme of 2016 conference is ‘The New Normal’.