The regional luxury goods sector will reach $100 billion by 2010 of which $8 billion will come from high end watches and jewellery, said Tawhid Abdullah, Managing Director of Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group and Damas LLC, speaking at the recently concluded conference on 'Marketing for Luxury Products' in Dubai.

"Women and younger generation in the region are serious luxury product buyers right from the age of 20 compared to 40 years in the west. This gives 20 extra years for luxury brands in our region," said Abdullah.

T"The global luxury market which is today valued at about $400 billion is expected to grow by $1 trillion by 2010, of which, 10 per cent would be from the Middle East considering the growing per capita income of the region and Dubai's emergence as a luxury capital," he added.

Globally, 32 per cent of the luxury market sales come from high end jewellery and watches which is also a major contributor to the luxury market in the region. Swiss luxury watches during the first half of 2006 earned $175 million to UAE which is 12.2 per cent growth compared to last year.

"We expect the luxury watch sales in the UAE to cross $500 million by the end of 2006 and the total market size of the region to reach $4 billion by 2010, " added Abdullah Talking about the changes in the profile of luxury goods consumer, he said today's consumer is young, more educated, more demanding and looks beyond the brand for a total luxury experience including world class shopping facilities and excellent customer service.

Stringent measures to crack counterfeit sales in luxury goods and specific marketing plans targeted at the younger generation are necessary to help the regional industry.

According to Moaz Barakat, Managing Director, World Gold Council, Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan, the gold jewellery industry has seen a revival through fresh marketing mechanisms which have established gold jewellery as a fashionable luxury item.

"By developing marketing strategies and business plans built on a structured understanding of the market and in-depth consumer insights and research, we have seen a revival in the demand for gold jewellery. Dubai's consumption in 2005 increased by 10 per cent from 95.8 tonnes in 2004 to 106 tonnes in 2005, despite the 8 per cent increase in the year-year average price.