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Shopping

Shopping remains Dubai's most successful draw card in reinventing itself as a major tourist destination. With low import duties and no sales tax, Dubai is home to some of the cheapest high-tech and audio-visual gear in the world - and for many years that was reason enough to come here.

The Dubai Shopping Festival in early February/March is a long-standing major attraction offering major price reductions, special offers and product launches on a huge range of premium goods. Lucrative raffles take place to further add to the excitement. Dubai International Airport offers tourists duty-free prices on international goods making this possibly the bargain retail centre of the world.

Apart from the air-conditioned malls and duty-free emporia of the airport, the best shopping is to be had at the souks - traditional Arab markets - around the city. Here you can find authentic Bedouin paraphernalia, Persian-style carpets and textiles.

A particularly pleasant shopping area is the Bur Dubai side of the Creek where you can find textiles, raw silks and interesting souvenirs.

Dubai's most famous bazaar is the Gold Souk at Sikkat al-Khali Street. Innumerable shops and stalls sell gold jewellery in every possible form. Bargaining is expected and prices determined according to weight.

Shops tend to open from 8am to 1pm, reopening after the heat of the day at around 4.30pm until 8pm or even later. Malls will remain open from 10am until 10pm. Shops, malls and souks usually close on Friday mornings.