Dubai: The average monthly spend on luxury items in Dubai was at $2,300 compared to $4,000 in Qatar, with people still preferring Dubai for luxury spending, a survey commissioned by American Express revealed.

In the UAE, holidays and fine dining are the categories, which people spend the most on.

In addition, respondents in the UAE indicated that personal wellness would become more of a priority in the next 12 months, with a third saying it would become their top luxury spending priority, as per the survey.

Doha and Abu Dhabi occupied the second and the third place for places where people indulge in luxury spending.

In 2016 personal wellness would be a priority in luxury spending, the survey notes, adding that however, people have been contributing less to saving and retirement corpus due to high cost of living. Only 18 per cent have cut back spending in 2015. It further highlights that Western expats have cut back on dining out and travel costs, while Asians and Emiratis are spending more on holidays.

Source