GCC To Host First World Luxury Expo

GCC countries are to host the first World Luxury Expo in the new year.

Burj Al Arab will host the first edition (January 15-17), which will be followed by events at the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh (February 10-12), St Regis Doha (March 31-April 2) and Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi (September 27-29).

The expo will showcase leading luxury brands to invitation-only high-net worth private clients from across the GCC.

Sectors will cover fine art, jewellery & fashion, hand-crafted time pieces, designer furniture, automobiles, fine dining, private aviation and luxury travel.

Exhibition options include luxury hotel suites for private viewings by appointment, discreet meetings, or walk-in enquiries while for main exhibitions, a double-volume Grand Pavilion will be erected in the Burj Al Arab Marina Garden area.

For networking receptions and banquets, guests will be hosted in the Al Falak Ballroom.

Middle East luxury goods sales are predicted to grow 15 per cent in 2012, more than double the global rate, according to a Bain & Company worldwide study.

Heinrich Morio, General Manager of Burj Al Arab, believes it will become an annual signature event for Dubai.

Vincent Corver, Manager of Steinway Piano Gallery, CDC – Qatar, said it will be displaying a crystallised 1/6 scale model grand piano worth AED12 million for the first time.

The world’s most luxurious atlas, Earth Platinum, measuring 6x9ft, is an example of one of the unique collectors pieces that will be displayed. It comprises images that are stitched together from as many as 1,000 photos.

Other top-end suppliers in attendance include Hästens beds and Harvey Nichols.