Dubai Shopping

Foreign visitors would love to explore different places and take pictures of numerous panoramic scenes of the tourist destinations that they go to. But after a long tiring day yet filled with excitement, they would look for places that they can do their shopping. In order to do so, travel guides would give them tips on different areas where the locals sell jewelry items, handcrafted products, unique souvenirs and more. While shopping, you must also keep in mind that you have the right to haggle even if you are a tourist and local merchandisers would see you as a wallet filled with money.

But there’s no need to haggle if you were do your shopping at Dubai. The prices are incredibly cheap but with great quality. No wonder why Dubai is known for being the Shopping capital of the Middle East. You can buy items in Dubai malls which have fantastic services and ambiance. These establishments also serve as parks for some tourists and locals. Aside from malls, there are also the traditional market places in Dubai called souks. Shopping at souks will give you much better bargain than in Dubai malls. However, you might need to learn a few local Dubai words related to purchasing so that you can get cheaper prices for the items that you desire.

Dubai Shopping Mall Before you go back to your country, make sure that you will include in your shopping list the little souvenirs that would remind you of Dubai. The most popular gift items are the camel figures or camel lighters. These are cheap and great as giveaways for your friends, officemates, and relatives. Handcrafted items are also rampant in most Dubai shopping areas. Beads, woven items with intricate designs, jewelries and more are the most beautiful and unique products available in this emirate. More often than not, female tourists are attracted to these handcrafted items and can never go home without purchasing one.

However, in order to get these wonderful deals, either at the souks or at the malls of Dubai, you must have your local money such as dollar or peso to be exchanged in several money changers available in Dubai. Since it is more likely that you will be staying at hotels before you do your shopping, it is best that you exchange your money at these establishments rather than in the market place of Dubai. Legit monetary exchange establishments are also available in different huge shopping malls. No matter how big is the rate difference between the money changers on the streets and malls or hotels, don’t get tempted to choose the one that looks very doubtful. There are some Dubai locals that take advantage of tourists, claiming that they can give a bigger value for your money. They either give you fake money in return or insufficient amount.

Shopping in Dubai That is why some tourists shopping around Dubai prefer to use credit cards, debit cards, or ATM machines since it is honored in most big shopping establishments in the emirate. Several credit cards that are honored in Dubai are HSBC Mastercard and Visa. Some retails stores located in the souks of Dubai also honor debit cards and credit cards. However, some tourists are afraid to use their credit cards at these small retail stores although they recognize these cards. According to the gazette called Gulf News, there are some Dubai retailers that publish the whole sixteen numbers of the card on their receipt. Moreover, they also publish the expiry date and the name of the card owner as well. This is not allowed by most credit card companies since have advised the retailers that they have to start upgrading their systems.