The Gold Souk in Dubai put the city on the global map long before the rise of the Burj Al Arab or Burj Khalifa. The glittering market at Dubai Creek has more than 300 gold shops selling jewel-encrusted medallion necklaces, gold coins and chunky Bedouin bangles , with mannequins on display draped in kilograms of special bridal jewellery.
There are every imaginable form of gold. But due to increases in the price of the precious metal, currency fluctuations in customers' home countries and longer-than-usual vacations , fewer buyers have flocked to the venue this summer .
Dubai wholesalers reported sales down 50 percent compared to last summer. "This is the slowest I've seen in the market in about six years that I've been in business," Abhishek Siroya , director of gold wholesalers Siroya Jewelers , told The National newspaper.
“Even when my vendors come to my office, if they see one or two clients, they say, 'Do you have any clients right now?' There is no one in the market, there is no one to buy gold.” Siroya works at the Gold Center , a skyscraper overlooking the souk on the Creek.
The building houses Dubai's gold wholesalers who sell to the city's 800 retailers in an industry that employs more than 13,000 people . The jeweler stressed that price stability, rather than the price itself, is the most important thing for buyers.
Summer is always a bad time for retailers as tourists and residents flee the heat of the United Arab Emirates.
This year, the Eid Al Adha festival took place in mid-August and lasted for five days. "Usually around these holidays and during Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) we have good sales, but this year it was bad," said Yasin Al Abbadi , manager of Morganite Jewellery. "The previous Eid Al Adha, sales were better."
Souk employees said Dubai 's gold sales are impervious to any politics. Instead of sluggish summer sales, they talked about the potential that Expo 2020, the six-month world's fair expected to attract 25 million visitors, will bring. "Dubai is all about the tourism market, so if the tourists are good, the sales are good," said Abdul Lathief Palakodan, an employee at Darya Jewelery . "We are waiting for Expo 2020. We are planning that business."
The city registered 15.7 million tourists in 2018 , with two million from India and 1.6 million from Saudi Arabia, two nationalities that are good customers in the sector.
The gold souk is considered a must-see destination , attracting savvy shoppers with its high-quality duty-free gold.
On the other hand, dowry jewelry is bought before the Gulf winter wedding season and also many buy gold before the Hindu festival of Diwali , which takes place on October 27 this year. With so much importance and sentiment attached to the precious metal, the long-term demand for gold will never be tarnished. "This month has been hard, but you have to bear it," concluded Siroya.
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