Gold sales rose tremendously during 2006 festive season according to World Gold Council

Moaz Barakat, Managing Director, World Gold Council, Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan, said: "For a touch of luxury, take a trip to the Gold Souk which is packed with high street favourites. Don't get frustrated even if your budget is a little more modest, as the market has plenty to offer. So go for gold this season and if you still have not given any gift to one of your loved ones, head towards one of the many gold shops in the city to hunt out a bargain."

With the Dubai Shopping Festival going strong, visitors from the neighbouring countries are also flocking to the city's gold shops and malls to buy branded and designer gold jewellery further escalating gold sales. The trend was particularly high during Christmas, Eid Al Adha and New Year's eve.

Customers were spoilt for choice with a huge range of gold jewellery. Dubai is known as the home of the most intricate, classic and stunning gold jewellery designs where every piece of jewellery involves painstaking work. Craftsmen have mastered the art of jewellery making and have developed an eye for ingenious detail following sophisticated mechanisms.

Moaz added: "Gold sales in the Middle East accelerated and shot up during December as there were three very important events, Christmas and Eid Al Adha followed by New Year. Also due to DSF, gold sales were prolonged thereby sustaining strong demand for the yellow metal particularly in the premium-end segment during the year-end."

According to the Gold and Jewellery Group's statistics, sales of DSF 2007 gold coupons have increased many folds. The total number of coupons sold till date are 387,487 compared to 291,000 in 2005. The average gold coupon collection till date has already reached 20,394.05 compared to 15,315.79 in 2005. The group expects the coupon collection to hit the 917,732.37 mark compared to 689,210.53 last year.