Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a launch press conference organised by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) in cooperation with Dubai Chamber and Majid Al Futtaim Properties to announce the results of the 2012 edition of “How Global is the Business of Retai?", the CBRE survey on global retail expansion, which revealed that Dubai ranked second most targeted city by international retailers and the UAE as the world's second most international retail market. Present at the launch were H.E. Hamad Buamim, Director General, Dubai Chamber , Nick Maclean, Managing Director, CBRE Middle East, Cris Tollast, Head of Retail, MENA and Peter Walichnowski, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties. The CBRE's annual survey which is now in its fifth year mapped the global footprint of 326 of the world's top retailers across more than 200 cities to identify trends in global retail expansion at national and local levels. The report found that Middle East markets continue to attract an increasing number of international retailers, competing with established global retail centers. Riyadh retained key position in the top 20 of most targeted retail destinations, while Kuwait City moved up CBRE's ranking four places to number eight, ahead of many established destinations. According to the survey, Dubai attracted 53.8% of the retail brands surveyed, but narrowly missed out to London which claimed the outright number one position with 55.5%. Still, Dubai ranked first as a target market for European and Asia Pacific retailers while it rated second as a target market for American retailers, as Zawya stated. H.E. Hamad Buamim, Director General, Dubai Chamber , said: "Retail has been one of the fastest growing industries and one of the leading drivers of economic growth in the UAE in recent years as the rising population and urbanization, expatriate wealth, strong household consumption and modern retail concepts, as well as a thriving tourism sector, continue to provide ideal conditions for growth. The findings of the CBRE report further cement Dubai's position as a truly international business and leisure destination." Stressing on the attraction of Dubai to international travelers, Buamim added, "Dubai International Airport which is the 4th busiest airport in the world has received over 50 million passengers in 2011 and reinforced its position as the world's 5th largest airport while the Dubai hotel establishments' 86.2% occupancy level in January has placed it on top of the list of the 15 top performance destinations, up from 75.4% occupancy levels posted last year. As the hospitality industry in the emirate continued its strong growth in footfall of tourists, the number of Dubai hotel rooms increased to 74,613 in 2012 from 56,599 in 2008," he said.
