Latest figures from West End company which represents 600 premium retailers in London West End showed that Arab shoppers spend 15 times more than the average UK shopper.

Arab tourists from Saudi & the UAE on the other hand are spending £2000 in London priciest stores with June showing an 11% rise in sales due to wealthy Arabs in the capital spending £200 million.

London businesses are expecting the sales figures to go up as Ramadan approaches and peak as well before the Eid festival.

Arab hotels and stores are hiring Arab staff and 5 star hotels are introducing Halal menus to cater for the needs of the high spending Arab customers. Hotels such as the Grosvenor House has 80% of its occupants from Arab countries and other hotels such as the Savoy, Landmark, Sheraton, Intercontinental are reporting equally impressive figures.

Marketers need to target this affluent consumer base says Saad Saraf, chair of the Mediareach Star, an agency that specialises in targeting affluent Arabs and is behind a number of marketing activities targeting this affluent niche.

Our community have a higher percentage of affluent and professional people with disposable income and money to spend and brands need to engage with them properly rather than waste their money on generic campaigns that does not deliver sales and return on investment said Saraf.

Arab customers have proved yet again that they are a powerful buying force and if targeted adequately can produce fantastic returns. Mediareach Star have done a number of events targeting affluent Arabs with the back up of luxury brands and have a glossy magazine (Hella London) targeting Arab residents in the capital.

Saad Al-Saraf

CEO