DEALING WITH PERCEPTION
One obstacle that most businesses don’t have to worry about is the perception of their product as it relates to the religious and social mores of the state — unless your company is african and eastern (a+e), an alcohol distributor and one of only two such organizations in Dubai. While the local Muslim populace does not drink alcohol, the dissemination of spirits is essential for Dubai as a prime tourist location.
"Our primary market is hotels," said Stuart Simpson, general manager of Marketing and Development for a+e. "Domestically, they comprise about 90 percent of our sales as compared to 10 percent sales to individual consumers that we service through our retail business."
Simpson noted that his company is very sensitive to the local residents of Dubai. "For example," he noted, "we do no mass market advertising. We do many promotions, but they are all done on-site, at hotels, sporting events, etc."
The company distributes 225 brands, including an extensive selection of the world's best-known labels such as Johnny Walker, Smirnoff, Gordon's and Fosters. For that priviliege they pay a 50 percent import tax and a 30 percent municipality tax. But, despite the high tarriffs, a+e remains a commercially attractive business within Dubai, which Simpson labels the "shop window" for the Middle East liquor business.
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