Don't miss the New Year flash DSF sale tomorrow!

The 12-hour-long New Year flash sale - being held for the first time ever - will start at 12pm on January 1 and end at 12am on January 2

31 December 2015

Living up to its name as a shopping haven, Dubai will usher in the New Year with a flash Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) sale.

Shoppers can expect anywhere between 80 to 90 per cent discount starting midday tomorrow.

The 12-hour-long New Year flash sale - being held for the first time ever - will start at 12pm on January 1 and end at 12am on January 2.

The organisers said the sale is exclusive and will be held at all Majid Al Futtaim malls across Dubai to herald in the New Year and the 32-day DSF.

Tens of thousands of tourists are expected to arrive in Dubai over the New Year. Emirates airline alone is expecting 174,000 people to reach Dubai from December 28 until just after New Year, and with this shopping bonanza, many social media users wished they could be in Dubai.

"I won't be there till the 15th ... Why?" wrote Crissy Adams on the DSF page on Facebook.

Another Facebook user Paul Clayton commented: "A shame we don't arrive until January 7. We come every January for DSF and love Dubai!"

"Only 12 hours?" asked Heba El Saeed, while Nikita Hemant Agarwal wrote: "Desperately waiting for DSF."

Travel agents not happy

However, many travel agencies are not overly enthusiastic, as they believe they've seen a decrease in inbound travellers to the UAE, particularly for the DSF.

Muneb Alnfuri, airline department operations assistant at Utravel, told Khaleej Times that he's noticed many travellers changing their bookings to late December for the DSF.

However, he believes there has been a great decrease in numbers compared to previous years.

"Those who want to travel to the UAE prefer to come this time of the year because of the festivals and events."

"But the festival is just one reason, it's not their only purpose, as many travellers have other interests here, such as business," he said.

Alnufri pointed out that last year, the UAE saw more inbound travellers, who came in around December - Russian tourists in particular.

"The Russian market in particular was heavier last year ... There is perhaps a decrease of about 25 per cent this year, compared to last year when it comes to inbound travellers," he noted.

Kris, inbound coordinator at Sun and Sky Tourism and Travel, also believes that there has been a decrease in sales.

"If you compare this year's sales with two years ago, it has decreased," she said.

"The bookings, the tourists and the inbound (travellers) are perhaps less than previous years, especially compared to 2010 and 2011."

She noted that the travel agency is not focussing on promotions now.

"At the moment we don't have DSF promotions because we can't predict what will happen in the market. But for the past week it has increased to a certain degree."

Jeyaraj Sudagaran, contracting manager at Sharaf Travel, on the other hand, said that he has not seen a drop in inbound travellers arriving to Dubai for the mega shopping festival.

"We are not seeing a great increase this year though, it's either the same or slightly less than last year," he added.

According to him, this year shoppers are arriving from all over the world.

"The majority of our inbound customers around this time of the year are from Far East, Europe and Japan."

The 21st edition of DSF 2016 is being launched by Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. It will run until February 1 under the tagline 'Unwrap The Exceptional'.