Gold and tourists are the main “exports” from Russia to the UAE, which are growing rapidly. Experts from the Space Travel tour operator told TURPROM about this. Moreover, if Turkey is also actively buying Russian gold, then Russian tourists “flowed” to the UAE just instead of Turkey. And the tour operator named the main reasons.
“At the largest tourism exhibition in the Middle East, ATM 2023, which has just ended, the most discussed topic was the record volume of bookings from Russia. The tour operator company Space Travel confirms that this year the traditional seasonal decline is not expected due to the hot summer weather, the demand is very high,” experts of the tour operator emphasized to the correspondent of the TURPROM infogroup. For Russian tourists who have gathered in the UAE, Space Travel even set up a block flight program for the entire season on the wings of Air Arabia Airlines From Moscow to Sharjah and Abu Dhabi and from a number of Russian cities to Sharjah.
At the same time, the reason for the reorientation in Space Travel they call the high cost of the Turkish direction. “For the same money, you can relax in better hotels in the UAE, given the seasonal price reduction, and the intense heat does not really scare the Russian tourist,” experts said.
As for the sale of gold, it was “switched” to the direction of the UAE, of course, by sanctions. Since March 2022, Russian companies have stopped being able to send gold to major banks (JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC) due to sanctions. Brink's and Loomis, the main carriers of precious metals, also stopped working with Russia. As a result, Russia changed its own gold supply targets to the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Turkey. As a result, from March to August 2022, the volume of gold exports to the UAE reached $500 million. Traders Paloma Precious and Al Bahrain Jewelers were involved in deliveries, they imported gold in the amount of $109 million and $50 million, respectively. The vast majority of buyers were in the emirate of Dubai. So it is possible that Russian shopping enthusiasts will have the opportunity to “re-export” part of the Russian precious metal in the form of jewelry this season.
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