Business of Sport Saudi sports push ‘winning global audiences’ Saudi sports investments are winning a global audience as the kingdom tries to overcome charges of “sport washing”, a major survey of media coverage said this month. Media analytics consultancy Carma found that coverage of human rights in Saudi Arabia fell in favour of “a sports-related narrative” around the world, including in the West. The […] June 25, 2024
Food & Drink Mubadala injects $250m to revive Turkey’s Getir Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company will invest $250 million in Turkish grocery delivery startup Getir as part of a restructuring programme that will split it into two standalone units. The first standalone business will focus on domestic online groceries and food delivery services, with Mubadala, an existing shareholder, holding the management and majority stake, Reuters […] June 25, 2024
Retail Turkish retailers’ confidence wavers as inflation bites Confidence is falling among Turkish retailers, according to a survey from the country’s statistics agency Turkstat. Shoppers have been scaling back on big-ticket purchases, spending instead on basic consumer goods as inflation piles pressure on household incomes. May’s business confidence report, released by Turkstat on June 24, showed sentiment in the retail sector at its […] June 24, 2024
Video length: 07:15 Tourism Egypt shuts down 16 travel companies after Hajj tragedy Egypt has withdrawn the operating licences of 16 travel companies for organising unlicensed Hajj trips to Saudi Arabia. A statement from the Egyptian government said the companies would be prosecuted and fined, with the funds used to compensate pilgrims’ families for their loss. Hundreds of Egyptians were among 1,301 people who died of exposure to […] June 24, 2024
Retail Spinneys opens first Saudi supermarket in Riyadh Spinneys has opened its first supermarket in Saudi Arabia and is planning a further 12 stores in the country by 2028. The UAE supermarket operator listed on the Dubai Financial Market last month and raised AED1.38 billion ($375.7 million) from its initial public offering, which was oversubscribed almost 64 times. The first Spinneys in Saudi […] June 24, 2024
Opinion Agriculture Arab states must raise intra-trade to buffer against food shocks Gulf producers are neglecting their own farming potential June 24, 2024
Business of Sport UAE’s Mubadala acquires new Brazil SailGP team Mubadala Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, has acquired a new team in SailGP, the global racing championship, to represent Brazil. The team will be the first South American squad to join the SailGP league and the first of the new teams confirmed ahead of Season 5, the state-run Wam […] June 24, 2024
Video length: 03:26 VIDEO People & Lifestyle Brands call for governance of Middle East’s vaping market Leading e-cigarette and vaping brands are calling for more regulation to tackle counterfeits, youth vaping and the environmental impact in the Middle East. Jacques Li and Lauren Huang from Elfbar told AGBI how these issues are affecting their business. Watch the video to find out more. More videos from AGBI June 20, 2024
Analysis Retail Premium Qatar malls thrive despite online competition Large high-end malls in Qatar are winning the favour of consumers who still choose to shop in person amid intensifying competition from the internet. However, other shopping venues are suffering from reduced footfall and growing vacancy rates. The flagship Doha Festival City announced last month that it is fully leased after clinching its 500th retail […] June 19, 2024
Tourism Luxury hotel revenues in Oman rise to $242m Oman’s luxury hotels continued to make money in April as the number of guests surged. The revenue of three- to five-star hotels rose 11 percent year on year to OMR93 million ($242 million), the state-run Oman News Agency said, quoting the National Centre for Statistics and Information data. The revenue increase was driven by a […] June 18, 2024
Tourism Tourism businesses on the up in Medina The number of tourism businesses in Medina was 15 percent higher in the first quarter of 2024 than the same time last year, a boon for Saudi Arabia as it aims to increase the industry’s contribution to the national economy. Madinah Chamber did not supply a breakdown of the figures, but the state-owned Saudi Press […] June 18, 2024
Retail Chalhoub Group in venture with Italian luxury brand Luxury distributor Chalhoub Group has entered into a joint venture with Italian fashion conglomerate OTB Group to expand the brand’s footprint in the Gulf. OTB (which stands for Only The Brave) owns the Diesel, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, Marni and Viktor&Rolf brands, the Staff International and Brave Kid companies, and holds a stake in the […] June 17, 2024
Video length: 07:15 Analysis Tourism Hajj pilgrims feel the pinch as costs rise The costs of Hajj are getting ever higher for pilgrims coming from around the world to perform the annual rites, which are a duty for every able-bodied Muslim to perform once in a lifetime. Even pilgrims coming from within Saudi Arabia, for whom the costs are cheaper, are paying around SAR23,500 ($6,266) for up to […] June 14, 2024
Retail Private jets to flamingos: the personal shopping lists of the super rich The luxury e-ommerce retailer Pastor & Co, which boasts it can supply clients with everything from Picasso paintings to swans, is aiming to pass $10 million in profits this year, buoyed by strong interest from the rich and famous across the Mena region. The personalised shopping service gets requests to source anything from a rare Fendi […] June 14, 2024
Leisure & Hospitality Oman records 300% surge in Russian tourists The number of Russian tourists visiting Oman jumped 300 percent year on year in 2023, a senior government official has said. Russian tourists reached 53,145 last year, compared with 13,000 in 2022, said Azzan Al Busaidi, undersecretary of tourism in the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. “Oman is a multi-seasonal destination famous for its natural […] June 12, 2024
Business of Sport Saudi wealth fund in talks to create new boxing league Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in talks with boxing promotion companies to create a new boxing league, as the kingdom expands its investments into the sporting sector, according to a media report. The Public Investment Fund is negotiating with promoters such as the UK’s Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions from the US to […] June 12, 2024
Video length: 07:12 Analysis Leisure & Hospitality Hotel franchising model takes off in the Gulf Global hospitality brands are aggressively expanding across the Gulf, stepping up competition and giving disgruntled owners unprecedented freedom to choose how and by whom their hotels should be run. Some hotel owners are opting for franchising agreements and third-party management arrangements. “Operators have become more flexible when offering their brands under a franchise than they […] June 12, 2024
Trade Suez Canal revenues and traffic fell in May Suez Canal revenues continued to decline in May because of instability in the Red Sea, according to Egyptian media. Revenues fell 64.3 percent year on year to $337.8 million. Last month 1,111 individual ships passed through the canal – down 54 percent on the May 2023 figure of 2,396. Finance minister Mohamed Maait said last […] June 10, 2024
Aviation Airports consider ‘transit hotels’ for 6-hour stays Saudi Arabia’s aviation expansion could stretch to transit hotels inside airport terminals where customers can pay for stays of less than the standard 24 hours. A Hong Kong-based company is developing the concept in the Gulf, with hotels offering six and 12-hour stays already established in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi, and a Muscat hotel that […] June 9, 2024
Video length: 04:30 VIDEO Retail Oman’s Amouage outgrows ‘overdeveloped’ GCC market Amouage, the Omani luxury perfume brand, now counts the United States as its biggest revenue generator after three years of continued growth, says Renaud Salmon, the company’s creative officer. Founded in 1983 by the Albusaidi family, Amouage recorded annual growth of 24 percent in 2023, with global retail sales doubling over the last three years. […] June 9, 2024
Food & Drink Mubadala-backed Zamp buys Starbucks brand in Brazil Zamp, a Brazilian restaurant chain backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala, has signed a deal to buy the Starbucks brand in the South American nation. The operator of Burger King and Popeyes stores in Brazil, Zamp signed an agreement with bankruptcy-hit SouthRock Group to acquire certain assets and rights of the Starbucks brand for 120 […] June 7, 2024
Giga-projects Neom brands its 12 Red Sea resorts as ‘Magna’ Saudi Arabian giga-project Neom said this week that 12 Red Sea coastal resorts for the ultra-rich that it has rolled out over the past year would be branded collectively under the name Magna. Last month Neom announced its twelfth project, Jaumur, the latest in a series of separate announcements of futuristic resorts inside Neom, an […] June 6, 2024
