Consumer spending on experiences, rather than more traditional sectors like fashion retail and luxury goods, saw the biggest growth during the first two weeks of Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), Visa, a global payments technology company, has said. An increasing number of consumers are using their cards to pay for restaurants, attractions and theme parks and take advantage of the deals and offers available at this time of the year. Visa's data shows card transactions overall are up by 5 percent the first two weeks of DSF, which runs from Dec. 2016 until Jan. 28, 2017. Growth is particularly strong in the online retail sector as consumers seek out sales online. This aligns with the growth of the e-commerce industry in the UAE with an increasing number of shopping websites and retailers looking to expand their footprint online. The data also reveals the top five countries spending more this DSF. Growth in spend on card is being seen from visitors from the UK, Russia, India, Oman and Qatar who are enjoying Dubai's extensive shopping and entertainment offers. This year, Visa has brought back its highly successful "Impossible Deals' which offers its cardholders seemingly impossible deals with reputable brands. It has been a record year for this initiative with more consumers than ever before registering for the chance to get over 80 percent off everything from mobile phones, watches, jewelry, gold and even cars with their Visa cards. Karim Beg, Head of Marketing, Visa MENA said: "This Dubai Shopping Festival, transactions by card continue to grow as we move towards a cashless future in the Middle East. Visa's data reinforces the trend that consumers are increasingly choosing electronic payments to take more control over their transactions and enjoy the associated peace of mind and additional benefits that come with paying by card. This year, we are also seeing growth in online spend as the e-commerce sector becomes more established in the region." He added: "the Impossible Deals Campaign has hit the right chord with the customers. Last year more than 100,000 customers registered during the course of DSF whereas for this year we are already nearing the 100K mark with 10 more days to go while we have over 100 banks in the GCC, African and East Europe markets who have activated the Visa promotion". — SG
