The second annual international conference on the current situation in the luxury market and its future prospects was held from November 2 to 5 at the Park Hyatt Dubai. The conference was attended by leading experts in this market, heads of companies such as Hublot, Van Cleef & Arpels, Philippe Charriol Group, Brandista, Gitanjali Group, Nupur, MasterCard Worldwide, Jumeirah Group, La Prairie Group, Montres DeWitt SA, Chalhoub Group, Swarovski Middle East, Burooj International Co., The Monarch Dubai, Gucci Group, Harvey Nichols, Montblanc.
Mr. McClelland, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Luxury Market Council in the Middle East, gave a welcoming speech to the audience, representing a variety of areas of the economy - from watch and jewelry production, to cosmetics and perfumery, as well as the hotel sector. He urged everyone to discuss how brands on the luxury market can withstand today's financial crisis and emphasized that the luxury segment “is just waiting for a signal that the economic situation in the US has begun to stabilize.”
During the two-day plenary meetings, the leaders of companies and major international retail chains, such as Harvey Nichols, shared with their colleagues their own strategies to survive in a crisis and not to lower the bar. Still, luxury is luxury, and people who can afford it should not feel the lack of it, no matter what sphere it may seem to be - air transportation, hotel accommodation or high-end shopping. November 3 and 4 were dedicated to the speeches of those leaders who in fact proved their ability to survive in difficult conditions. So Jean Claude Beaver, chief executive officer of the watch company Hublot, talked about how he was able to “revive” the brand when the world watch industry already forgot about its existence. Deborah Najar Nossa, general manager of Salam Watch & Jewelery Division spoke about the preferences of Middle Eastern luxury market clients and the peculiarities of the local mentality. John Nahhas, Montblanc's regional director, discussed with retail colleagues the patterns of retail and their impact on the behavior of consumers in the Middle East luxury consumer market.
The delegates of the Leaders in Luxury Middle East conference confirmed that, despite the global stagnation situation, the luxury market of the Middle East countries showed a 2% increase in 2009. Of course, a modest figure, but still better than nothing. The prospects for the development of retail and hospitality segments were widely discussed as the two main sectors that literally “blew up” the economies of the region in the pre-crisis period. The Leaders in Luxury Middle East conference was sponsored by MasterCard, ADAC, Meydan, Park Hyatt, Panorama Mall, Jahaanara, Chivas, Durrah, OKKU, Niche360 and CNBC Arabia.
