A weak euro and the FIFA World Cup are expected to dampen this year’s Dubai Summer Surprises shopping festival, which starts today.

The festival, which was launched in 1998, combines discounts at hotels and shops with entertainment events to stimulate tourism and retail sales during the hot summer months. Last year’s sale saw a 4.7 per cent increase in visitor numbers and a 0.6 per cent increase in consumer spending from 2008. This year, more than 6,000 retailers and 21 shopping malls across the emirate are participating, organisers say.

But tourists from euro-zone countries are expected to be few and far between as the debt crisis in Europe undermines consumer sentiment on the continent. “The weaker euro is going to have an effect on this part of the world,” said Arshad Hussain, the director of business development at The Monarch Dubai hotel. [Read More]