Arab Luxury World, held recently, saw regional and global professionals from across the premium goods and services sector congregate in Dubai to discuss problems and offer solutions to the challenges facing the industry.

The two-day event garnered a lot of interest due to the many panel discussions, presentations and private sessions.

It brought together luxury brands, agents, distributors, mall operators and service providers to the luxury industry all under one roof, where they discussed the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.

Co-CEO of organiser Mediaquest, Julien Hawari, highlighted the event’s unique opportunities both for the expansion of knowledge through learning programmes, and the acquisition of valuable business connections.

In his keynote address, co-CEO of Chalhoub Group, Patrick Chalhoub, said: “For a long time it was perceived that strong growth in the region’s luxury market was a given, due to an era of abundance where demand was high and growth was strong. However, growth is now slowing down to single digit figures - some put this down to pure economics, but to say this is simplifying a far more complex picture.”

Other first-day sessions which attracted great interest included the ‘New Norm’ session, in which speakers discussed the physical and digital processes, where online and offline consumer behaviours can differ depending on the product, online research, or even e-commerce. This talk considered how slow growth, or even negative growth, should not provide unnecessary levels of pessimism for industry players, with a slow transitional period requiring government, private and public sectors to invest more, expect less results and adapt to the new normal.

The second day of the conference kicked off by an opening keynote by creative director at Guerlain, Olivier Echaudemaison, who spoke about his experiences with brands and discussed the short fashion life cycle, with what’s created today sometimes falling out of fashion within six months, but successful fragrances lasting for 10 years or more.

Another panel discussion featured how the story of the brand, not the features of the product, is what creates that emotional bond with a client.

Hawari concluded: “The event this year was a great success, with a fascinating range of analysis of the latest ideas and trends in the luxury industry. Attendance numbers were high and feedback from delegates was extremely positive, and we are pleased to see the occasion achieving its key objectives. We are very much looking forward to the fourth edition next year as we continue to build upon each event’s success.” –TradeArabia News Service