Personal care & spa industries enjoying consumer boom as UAE wide cosmetic sales cross AED 1.51 billion

Beautyworld Middle East 2007 and Wellness and Spas Middle East 2007 will be exploring the latest in fashion, cosmetics and spa therapies, forming the largest combined personal care and lifestyle health event anywhere in the Middle East and providing the perfect opportunity for exhibitors to capitalise on the burgeoning trends.

Speaking on behalf of Beautyworld, Ms Heather Nix, Group Exhibitions Manager of Messe Frankfurt, says; "The growth of the region's cosmetics and personal care industry has been phenomenal. Last year the market in the UAE alone was worth more than AED 1.51 billion (US$414 million) in retail sales - an increase from AED 1.41 billion (US$382 million) in the previous year. The consumption of cosmetics and perfumes in this region ranks among the highest per capita world wide, with an average purchase at around AED 1,226 (US$334) per head," she adds.

Beautyworld is now in its 12th year and is the biggest event of its kind. "We have a variety of exhibitors representing all the current trends in fashion and cosmetics from across the globe," says Ms. Nix. "There are companies displaying halal cosmetics - a rapidly growing segment in this part of the world - as well as male grooming products; the global sales of which are predicted to grow to AED 71.56 billion ($19.5 billion) by 2008," she adds. "We will also be displaying the very latest in beauty products, some of which will be having their first ever public showing. One such company, Brazil's Keratin, will be demonstrating a revolutionary hair treatment that has only just been approved by the FDA, so it is a world first for our exhibition" she continues.

Ms. Nix is keen to stress that Beautyworld goes way beyond static displays of cosmetics and perfumes, although the exhibition certainly features the region's largest collection of such beauty products. "We have a number of exciting interactive competitions at this year's Beautyworld, such as the Walk of Beauty and the Nail Competition," she says. "The Walk of Beauty will pit the region's leading hair stylists in a race against the clock to create a winning style and finishes with a catwalk parade, with each model accompanied by a sound and light show as they sashay down the runway," she adds.

"The Nail Competition will demonstrate the talents of the region's leading nail technicians and will reveal the skill and precision needed to successfully apply such artwork to fingertips," she continues. "We also have a unique feature titled 'Passione,' which shows the latest in costume jewellery and is designed to reveal a 'one-stop' solution for time-busy customers attending beauty salons," she remarks.

Focusing on beauty through spa therapy and running adjacent to Beautyworld is the Wellness and Spas show, an exhibition which aims to capture a large segment of the health care market - the current regional spend of which is pegged at over AED 271 billion (US$74billion).

"Spas are increasingly being viewed as health providers and are now offering alternative and complementary therapies to their customers; treatments such as hot stone massages, crystal healing, Yoga sessions, acupuncture, aromatherapy and ayurvedic medicine," says Ms. Amin, Exhibition Manager for the event. "Wellness and Spas 2007 will be revealing some of the latest developments in this field; including medical spas, which fuse western medicine with eastern healing practices," she continues. "Visitors to the show will be able to experience the benefits of spa treatments for themselves, as a specially designed fragrance from leading aromatherapy firm Aromagic will be gently wafted through the halls during the exhibition," she adds.

Wellness and Spas will also be promoting health through fitness, with a dedicated sports aerobics area called 'Pulse.' This floor section will showcase the benefits of a good workout as an ideal way to help maintain the optimum body weight. "Obesity is a real issue for people in this part of the world," says Ms. Amin. "Kuwait was recently found to be the world's eighth fattest nation and statistics also show that 60% of UAE nationals are overweight. Pulse aims to show how exercise can be a fun way to help fight the flab and can be incorporated as part of a health visit to a spa," she adds.

Ms Amin believes that the Wellness and Spas exhibition is ideally placed to take advantage of the burgeoning demand for spa therapy. "Dubai is strongly promoting itself as a centre for the wellness industry and the city already has three out of the Middle East's four world class spas, as voted for by an independent hotels group," she says. "New hotels in Dubai offering such amenities are increasing by 17% per year and by 2015, it is highly likely that there will be more than 200 establishments in Dubai containing world class facilities, making the city the top spa destination in the world," she adds.

Beautyworld Middle East 2007 and Wellness and Spas Middle East 2007 run from 20-22 May 2007 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The two shows combined will feature over 9,500 exhibitors representing 1500 brands and services from 55 countries. More than 10,000 visitors are expected to attend the two exhibitions over the three days.