By Aarti Nagraj http://gulfbusiness.com
The Dubai Mall welcomed over 75 million visitors in 2013, up 15 per cent compared to 65 million in 2012 and 39 per cent from 54 million visitors in 2011.
The mall, which had an average monthly footfall of 6.25 million last year, claims that it has remained the world’s most-visited destination for the third consecutive year.
“The number of visitors significantly surpassed the number of shoppers at the world’s other leading malls such as Mall of America and Bullring Birmingham, UK (40 million each), Intu Trafford Centre, UK (30 million), Part Dieu Lyon, France (29.4 million) and West Edmonton Mall, Canada (28 million),” a statement from the mall’s developer Emaar Properties, said.
Over 40 per cent of the visitors to the mall were tourists, with the majority of overseas visitors coming from Saudi Arabia and the GCC, China, India, Russia and Europe.
The mall’s 1,200 plus retail outlets also recorded a 26 per cent year-on-year rise in sales during 2013, and according a report by Bain, more than 50 per cent of all luxury goods sold in Dubai were purchased at Dubai Mall. More info
